Chatham Daily News
May 7, 2009
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1559859
The Diocese of London will pay more than $2 million in compensation and costs to a Chatham victim of pedophile priest Charles Sylvestre.
The lawyer for the victim, Lou Ann Soontiens, said it's the largest known individual settlement for a sexual abuse case in Canada.
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| Lou Ann Soontiens talks about the settlement she received from the Roman Catholic Diocese of London while sitting in front of pictures of herself as a teen and of the priest who abused her, Charles Sylvestre. Photo by Erica Bajer |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of London "accepted our offer lock, stock and barrel," Rob Talach, of Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers, told reporters in London this morning.
Soontiens suffered five years of childhood sexual abuse, a related abortion and decades of living with the effects of abuse.
The case, which she launched three years ago, was settled within days of the start of the trial.
Sylvestre was convicted in 2006 of indecently assaulting 47 girls between 1954 and 1985 while serving as parish priest in churches in Chatham, Pain Court, Sarnia, London and Windsor.
He was sentenced to three years behind bars. He died less than six months into his prison term.
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