Time Affects Memories, but Essence of Abuse Carries On: Expert

By Barb Sweet
The Telegram
June 17, 2016

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2016-06-17/article-4563147/Time-affects-memories,-but-essence-of-abuse-carries-on%3A-expert/1

Chris Blom, shown during a court break this week, is one of the lawyers from a Toronto law firm hired by the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John's to defend it in the Mount Cashel civil trial. — Photo by Barb Sweet/The Telegram

A forensic psychologist acknowledged in Newfoundland Supreme Court the effect on memory of the passage of time - decades since a group of men say they were physically and sexually abused at Mount Cashel.

Chris Blom, shown during a court break this week, is one of the lawyers from a Toronto law firm hired by the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John's to defend it in the Mount Cashel civil trial. — Photo by Barb Sweet/The Telegram

William Foote of New Mexico, said while specific details can be affected, people will remember the essence of abuse and experts like him take it for what it is.

Chris Blom, lawyer for the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John's in the Mount Cashel civil trial, noted it was 40-plus years since the boys were at the orphanage by the time Foote interviewed five former residents in 2000.

Three of those men are among four test case John Does who say that the church should be held liable for the physical and sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of certain members of the lay order Christian Brothers from the late 1940s to early 1960s. They represent about 60 claimants.

Blom also suggested Foote, called by lawyers on behalf of the orphanage boys, unfairly depicted to the court that Mount Cashel was a cruel and sadistic experience for all boys over that time period.

Blom read one former resident's testimony - he is not among the test case John Does - in which the man noted periods of years that were OK.

Foote conceded there were good and bad years and allowed some years in which there was not a Brother "making the rounds" of boys' beds, but stood by his summary of the overall effect on the men abused. Blom pointed out Foote interviewed five and there were some 200 boys there in the era, so the five may not be representative.

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Email: bsweet@thetelegram.com