By Paul Ledroit
The Chronicle-Herald
October 22, 2009
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1148884.html
 |
| Philip Latimer, right, speaks with the media earlier this month about the sexual abuse he and his brother Warren, left, suffered at the hands of Father Allan MacDonald as children. Photo by Christian Laforce / Staff |
A young child abused by a priest faces many powerful emotions. The child has been taught to believe the priest is God’s representative on Earth. In a child’s eyes, a priest can perform miracles. He can transform bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. He can forgive sins. The priest is the most respected member of the community, held in great esteem by the child’s parents. The child is taught to honour and obey this man, whom he perceives as not just holy, but truly God himself. I know. I was once such a child.
Philip Latimer, the oldest of his seven brothers living in Havre Boucher, could think of nothing better to please his parents than to become an altar boy. He was so proud when Father Allan MacDonald agreed.
But soon Fr. MacDonald started sexually abusing Philip. The abuse got steadily worse over the next few years.
A child knows innately this is wrong. But he also knows the action that hurts and distresses him is being done by a man he believes to be God, a man respected in the community, a man he has been taught to honour. He feels shame. He is afraid to tell anyone. Will anyone believe him? Will he be punished?
The abuse ends many years later, when the child becomes too old for the pedophile. The abuser abandons the victim in favour of a younger child to satisfy his perversions.
But the child who has been abused is left facing a lifelong series of psychological issues: acting out with anger during the teen years; dropping out of school; trouble with the criminal justice system; substance abuse; lack of self-esteem; an inability to trust; difficulty with intimate relationships; difficulty holding a job. The list goes on and on, and includes significant troubles with anxiety and depression, sometimes to the point of suicide.
The sexual abuse of young children has long existed within the Catholic Church. The Church has issued laws prohibiting it for over 1,000 years. But the laws didn’t stop the abuse. It has continued because of secrecy.
When there are complaints, the priest is moved to another parish. Church officials never report the complaints and suspicions to the police or child protection agencies. Nothing is done to help the child. Nothing is done to help his or her family.
This problem, and the manner in which it has been handled in Nova Scotia, is no different than the way it has been handled the world over.
But what is new and different in Nova Scotia is the Antigonish class-action settlement agreement. It allows the Diocese of Antigonish to continue the secrecy. There is extremely limited disclosure. There is no opportunity to examine the church officials, to investigate who knew what and when. With hearings conducted in private, there is no way the public can learn who was responsible, besides the priest. Who failed to alert the police or welfare agencies? Who covered for the abuser? Who neglected to care for the victim or the victim’s family? And how many priests abused how many children?
Without a full inquiry — which is what our judicial system is designed for — the diocese is able to continue the secrecy. Nothing will change. The people of Nova Scotia are entitled to better.
To add to the problem, the Antigonish class-action imposes arbitrary and onerous limitation periods. Our courts have recognized that victims of sexual abuse should not be subject to limitation periods, because of the unique harm they suffer.
In a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2001, Justice Stevenson said establishing a judicial statute of limitations would mean that sexual abusers would be able to take advantage of the failure to report "which they themselves, in many cases, caused."
Justice Stevenson added: "That delay in reporting sexual abuse is a common and expected consequence of that abuse has been recognized in other contexts. In the United States, many states have enacted legislation modifying or extending the limitation period for the prosecution of sexual abuse cases, in recognition of the fact that sexual abuse often goes unreported, and even undiscovered by the complainant, for years."
So the Supreme Court acknowledges that an arbitrary time limit on claims is not in the interests of justice. But the Antigonish settlement agreement goes the opposite way. A victim must choose to opt in or opt out by Dec. 4 (with a possible extension to 180 days). After that, all claims are barred.
We know that many people are so traumatized by abuse that they wait many years to come forward. Imposing such a strict deadline robs those people of the right to a hearing.
Does the Diocese of Antigonish care about these victims — or does it simply want the matter to go away as expeditiously as possible?
Philip Latimer is a brave man. He might well get more money with much less effort by pursuing the class-action. But his conscience prevents him from participating in something he knows to be so fundamentally wrong.
Paul Ledroit is a litigation lawyer based in Halifax and London, Ont. He has helped hundreds of victims of sexual abuse since winning the precedent-setting J.R.S. v. Glendinning case in 2004. He is a founding partner of Ledroit Beckett. Details of the settlement can be found at www.dioceseclassaction.com/downloads/Settlement_Agreement_Aug_05_2009_en.pdf
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.