Quebec victims of priest sex abuse receive their $14M in compensation

CTV
August 22, 2015

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-victims-of-priest-sex-abuse-receive-their-14m-in-compensation-1.2528729

Rev. Raymond-Marie Lavoie walks outside for a lunch break at his trial in Quebec City, Monday, July 11, 2011 followed by his defence lawyer Serge Goulet.

The 111 victims of the Redemptorist Order of the Saint-Alphonse Seminary in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré have finally received nearly $14 million in compensation.

Former students who were sexually assaulted by the nine priests named in the case had until April 17 to file their claim.

After a five-year battle and a long trial, the Redemptorists finally deposited $20 million into an account to compensate victims, the largest sum of ever paid in a restitution case of this kind in Quebec.

After attorney fees and other expenses, victims of the Redemptorist priests will share nearly $14 million.

Quebec Superior Court ruled back in July 2014 that the Redemptorist Order will have to pay at least $75,000 in damages to each victim who attended the Saint-Alphonse Seminary between 1960 and 1987.

Ex-students came forward alleging they were assaulted while attending the now-defunct Quebec City-area school.

Former student Frank Tremblay launched the suit in 2010 against the order, the school and his attacker, Rev. Raymond-Marie Lavoie.

To this day, only Lavoie has been convicted of criminal charges. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to 18 counts involving 13 victims over an 11-year period from 1973 to 1984 and was sentenced to jail time.

Of the nine priests named in the class-action suit, six are dead and the other three have claimed that they live below the poverty line.

The judge ordered Tremblay be awarded the full amount of $150,000.

Carlo Tarini, a spokesman for the Quebec Association of Victims of Priests, called Tremblay "a genuine hero" for coming forward.