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	12 Sex Assault Victims to Sue Ottawa Priest Diocese Also in Victims' Sights By Kenneth Jackson CNews April 7, 2008 http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2008/04/07/5216041-sun.html A 42-year-old Ottawa man intends to join 11 other sexual assault victims when they file individual lawsuits today against a convicted Pembroke priest and the Roman Catholic Diocese. The question that remains, however, is how much the man should get for being abused nearly 30 years ago when he was a 13-year-old boy visiting the Ottawa apartment of Monsignor Bernard Prince . "I really don't have a dollar amount. What I hope it boils down to is the impact (the assault) had on me for all these years. Maybe I could have done better in my life if I hadn't been abused," said the man, who can't be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban. One of the victims is suing for $1.5 million and combined all the lawsuits are expected to be in the millions. Prince was sentenced in January to four years in prison for sexually abusing 13 boys in the 1970s. The retired priest, now 72, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault. He was found guilty on another count of indecent assault. Today, a number of the victims will be at a press conference at the Best Western Inn and Conference Centre in Pembroke at 10:30 a.m. Their lawyer Rob Talach said some of the victims are expected to comment on the verdict, speak about the lawsuits and further the awareness of childhood sexual abuse. IMPACT OF ABUSE "I think (you) can expect to hear a little more about the impact this abuse had on these individuals," said Talach. The Ottawa victim said before the abuse he had aspirations of becoming a lawyer. "I loved the law and arguing when I was a kid. Then after the abuse my life just changed. I had no motivation. I barely graduated high school and never graduated university," he said. He eventually moved to Toronto and began selling real estate. "I've always lived with the mindset that I never accomplished what I could have done and always felt shortchanged," he said. He kept the abuse secret for years until he was approached by the OPP. "I was prepared to go to the grave with my secret because what happened to me I thought only happened to me. I was kind of ecstatic that I could finally tell my story. I never told a soul for 25 years," he said. Talach's firm represents victims of sexual abuse and advocates for financial compensation. The firm is the representative of the "victims' group" in the Cornwall Public Inquiry into allegations of abuse of young persons there.
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