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	Sex Abuse Victim Wins Settlement Woman Raped by Priest to Get Largest Award Ever in Canada, Lawyers Say Toronto Star May 8, 2009 http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/631035 CHATHAM, Ont.–Of all the horror stories connected to disgraced Rev. Charles Sylvestre, Lou Ann Soontiens' tale of sexual abuse is one of the worst. The 51-year-old Chatham woman is expected to announce today she has been awarded what her lawyers call "the largest settlement of an individual sexual abuse case in Canadian history." Soontiens was one of the Roman Catholic priest's young female victims who stepped forward in 2006 when Sylvestre pleaded guilty to 47 indecent assaults. Her story went a step beyond many others – Soontiens described having an abortion after Sylvestre impregnated her, something he never admitted. Sylvestre died three months into his three-year sentence. Almost three years later, many victims are still involved in a civil litigation tussle with the Roman Catholic diocese of London to have their claims settled. No one was saying yesterday how much money is involved in the Soontiens settlement. Her lawyer, Rob Talach, of the London, Ont., law firm Ledroit Beckett, said Soontiens will reveal the amount at a news conference. "We've been doing this a long time. We've never had one larger. We don't know of one larger," he said. Mark Adkinson, the diocese's director of communications, said the church plans to make a statement today. So far, he said, the diocese has settled cases with more than 50 Sylvestre victims – "well over two-thirds." Sylvestre molested her regularly over seven years and told her not to tell. Sometimes he went to her school and took her out of class. She failed a grade at school. The abuse escalated to rape. At age 14, she was pregnant. An abortion was arranged in London and Sylvestre was the only person to visit her in hospital.
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