By Mary Ormsby
Toronto Star
October 21, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/878934--retired-priest-faces-more-sex-abuse-charges
 |
| William Hodgson Marshall (left) arrives at Toronto Police 52 Division, accompanied by lawyer Andrew Bradie, on Oct. 21, 2010. The 88-year-old retired priest was charged with three counts of indecent assault. |
A retired 88-year-old Roman Catholic priest who was charged with molesting a student at St. Michael’s College School almost 60 years ago is now facing three more abuse charges.
Rev. William Hodgson Marshall surrendered to police at 52 Divison just after 8 a.m. Thursday, where he was arrested on three indecent assault charges.
Marshall was accompanied by his Windsor-based lawyer, Andrew Bradie, who said his client would be released later in the day.
Marshall, who has been described as in ill health by friends, walked with a wooden cane into the downtown police station at Dundas St. W. and University Ave. from a nearby coffee shop. He did not respond when his name was called.
On Sept. 22, Marshall was first charged by Toronto police with abusing a 15-year-old student in the fall of 1953. That complainant is now 72.
It’s unknown if the new Toronto complainants are former St. Mike’s students.
Marshall, who excelled at teaching math and coaching basketball, is at the centre of a growing sexual abuse scandal that involves 16 complainants from three Ontario cities spanning a period from the early 1950s to the 1980s.
He is accused of abusing 12 other minors while assigned to schools in Windsor and Sudbury.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
The first charges were laid in Windsor in May against Marshall, who is a member of the Congregation of St. Basil religious order. On Oct. 13, Sudbury police issued an arrest warrant for Marshall but those charges involving six complainants were “dealt with” at 52 Division, Bradie said.
Bradie said the charges from all three cities will be transferred to Windsor to be dealt with in an efficient manner before one judge and one Crown prosecutor.
“We have to co-ordinate the Toronto charges in Toronto court and the Sudbury charges in Sudbury court and ultimately determine where it all leads after I have a chance to assess the entire situation,” Bradie said outside 52 Division.
Bradie said the process of transferring all charges to Windsor could take “months.”
The Sudbury assaults are alleged to have occurred between 1960 and 1970. The Windsor incidents are from the 1950s and the 1980s.
Bradie has acted for clergy previously. Earlier this year, he negotiated a plea agreement for former Windsor priest John Duarte. Duarte was sentenced to 18 months for abusing adolescent boys at the Haitian mission he founded.
Bradie also defended late priest Charles Sylvestre, who at age 83, pleaded guilty in 2006 to sexually abusing 47 girls over the four decades he ministered in the London and Chatham areas.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.