Press Release

By Robert P.M. Talach
Ledroit Beckett
London, Ontario
January 29, 2008

We are here today to expose the crimes of six men, six priests, six predators who have violated the very essence of what they represented. Rather then being a force of good they descended into evil. And it is their own victims who following decades of struggling with the impact of that evil have found the strength to come here today to set the record straight.

[Robert Talach. Image added by BishopAccountability.org from partial video of press conference.]

They come to you, the media and the public for three main reasons.

First, this conference is intended to empower them and other victims like them. It is to send a message that they are not alone. They wish others to not despair for where there are forces of evil there are forces of good.

Secondly, they seek assistance in proving the ugly truth which they all know to well. Few crimes of this nature transpire without others knowing, suspecting or even experiencing them. It is those others who these victims reach out to today. They need their help in letting the truth be told.

Thirdly, they want positive change for the future. They demand that the light of day illuminate the problem of childhood sexual abuse. For many it is a taboo subject, especially in cases such as theirs. But it is only through exposure that this plague can be identified and confronted. In cases involving clergy there is an extra level of disbelief and denial which must be overcome. Today is a step in that direction.

The above objectives though cannot be achieved by remaining in the abstract so let me outline the tragedies which these individuals have experienced. I will do so chronologically so that you can appreciate both the duration and depth of what we are dealing with.

[Greg O'Connor and Wayne Thibert. Image added by BishopAccountability.org from partial video of press conference.]

In 1956, Greg O'Connor was a keen Grade 9 student at Scollard Hall in North Bay. He was younger and smaller then his colleagues because he had skipped a grade in elementary school. His academic prowess quickly faded after he caught the eye of Father Magnus J. Fedy. Fedy was serving in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie but was a Religious Order priest from the Congregation of the Resurrection in Ontario, which is based out of Waterloo. Over the course of three school years Fedy abused Greg. The abuse took place in Fedy's quarters and involved fondling, masturbation and anal penetration. Greg eventually dropped out and the abuse ended but the impact has been with him ever since.

At the same time that Greg's abuse commenced Thomas Miller who lived beside Scollard Hall meet another member of Scollard Hall's staff. Father Victor Killoran was also a member of the Congregation of the Resurrection. Though not a student, Thomas frequented the school grounds and Killoran quickly provided Thomas with treats such as access to the gym, the showers and the roof. But such admission had a sinister price tag, which eventually consisted of fondling, masturbation, oral sex and anal penetration. The abuse lasted almost four years.

The deviant sexual appetites of Fedy and Killoran were not satisfied with only one victim each. Both men befriended another neighbour child, Anita Contant. Anita's mother was involved with the local St. Rita's parish and was a devout Catholic. Anita and her siblings both played on the school grounds much like Thomas Miller. In doing so they came into contact with Fedy and Killoran. Both men eventually abused the 8 year old Anita for 3 years, from 1956 to 1959. Fondling, oral sex and digital penetration all occurred.

Both of these abusers had shifts in their careers following this abuse. Killoran was transferred from the school, last being listed there in 1961. Some say it was a nervous breakdown but Anita says her mother reported Killoran's abuse of one of her brothers to the Church resulting in the transfer. Fedy remained but had his role changed from administrator to mere teacher.

Both men are now dead. Before Killoran died some of his deeds caught up with him. He pled guilty to abusing a boy and a girl in Kitchener-Waterloo in 1990.

[Greg O'Connor, Wayne Thibert, and Robert Talach. Image added by BishopAccountability.org from partial video of press conference.]

At the same time that the abuse of Greg, Thomas and Anita started, half a province away in the Windsor area, Wayne Thibert was born. A decade later in 1966 Wayne was a shy freckle faced young Altar Boy. He counted Father Lawrence Paquette of St. Gregory's parish in St. Clair beach as his best and only friend. But for Father Paquette, young Wayne was nothing then a sexual toy and for six years he inflicted almost every imaginable act of sexual abuse and violation upon Wayne. When Wayne ran away from home to try and stop it his parent's punished him by denying him time with their "favourite priest". Wayne was relieved. Eventually Wayne's family moved to Crystal Falls in the North Bay area but Paquette came and visited, and was able to commit his final acts of abuse upon Wayne.

As Wayne's nightmare was ending in the early 1970's two Sudbury area boys were about to fall prey to a local predator. Father Rene Hebert who was a priest at L'Annonciation parish in Sudbury enjoyed working with the youth of the parish. That enjoyment though extended to taking adolescent boys of the parish camping and providing them alcohol.
On such trips he sexual abused both Raymond Carriere and R.D. Sabourin by fondling their genitals. The boys were 14 and 15 years of age respectively and quickly informed their parents.

A meeting was held with the boys, their parents and former Bishop Alexander Carter, amongst others. Assurances were given, prayers were encouraged and nothing ended up happening to Father Hebert whom the Diocese left free to go onto develop a ministry focused almost exclusively on working with vulnerable youth.

While the unanswered concerns of the Carriere and Sabourin families still echoed in Sudbury, in the nearby community of Field, Ontario more abuse was on the horizon. In 1979 Father Gerald Roy was getting to know then 12 year old J.G. As his parish priest, school chaplain and teacher Roy had plenty of access to the young boy. Roy would proceed to engage in a two year period of fondling and mutual masturbation with the young J.G.

Roy's exploits with other boys caught up with him in 2000 when he was convicted of various sexual crimes. Roy now resides near Warren, Ontario.

The last victim to be discussed today is Kevin Bishop. Kevin was unable to attend. In 1986, three decades after the abuse of the Scollard Hall victims had commenced Kevin found himself at Vita Way Farm outside Powassan, Ontario. The Farm was founded by Father John Fisher as a rehabilitation centre for troubled youth. Kevin was there to be helped and instead he was harmed. Over nine months Kevin was sexually brutalized with almost every form of sexual abuse. Though he was to be there for a one year program Kevin ran away three months short of completion and no one from the Farm or the Ontario government ever asked why.

Fisher went on to win the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship but was later criminally charged in 1989. Those charges arouse from similar allegations of sexual abuse by another of the Farm's former residents. The outcome of those charges is unknown. Fisher did though continue to minister, residing for a time following his charges at the Pro-Cathedral in North Bay and ending his career in Temagami. He too has since passed.

A full appreciation of these crimes cannot be understood without hearing from the victims themselves and they are here today to do just that. Before they do that one final issue will be addressed. Why now?

Many times in case of historical sexual abuse some people believe that the passage of time between the events and their disclosure somehow provide an indication of whether the claims are valid. If someone waits years or even decades to report they are somehow less believable.
Such thinking is flawed and insensitive.

Sexual abuse by clergy is not just the abuse of the body but is also abuse of the soul. All the effects of childhood sexual abuse are compounded by devastating impact upon one's religious faith. Many times the victim, taught from an early age that a priest and the Church can do no wrong, blames them self for the abuse. They carry a silent shame and guilt with them. They cannot dare tell their parents for they feel that it is more likely that the charming and loved priest will be believed over a silly child. Yet if they are believed the impact on their parents is twofold, the news of abuse of their child added with an event which can shake and even shatter an entire family's religious faith. It is many times this combination of factors which leads a victim to vow that they will take their secret to the grave. It takes decades for that secret to finally surface, the disclosure can be triggered by a multitude of events. Whatever the spark that caused the brave act of disclosure, the last thing anyone should do is assume that the delay has anything to do with whether their allegation is true or not.

There are other facts which assist that line of inquiry. In half of the cases canvassed here today, the priest was charged on the basis of complaints by other victims. In all of these cases, there are more then one known victim for each priest. The career paths of many of these priests suggest a strong interest in young people. In others there is a strange turn in their career indicative of potential awareness by the Diocese.

At the end of the day there are many questions left to be answered but it is not these victims alone who can provide all the answers. It is the Diocese, the Bishop and others whose turn it is to shed further light on these cases. Anyone with further information is encouraged to contact the office of:

[Ledroit Beckett]
630 Richmond Street
London, Ontario
N6A 3G6
Tel: (519) 673-4994
Fax: (519) 432-1660