Parishes Where Ousted Priests Worked Identified by London Lawyer

CBC New
January 15, 2019

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-catholic-diocese-dwyer-charbonneau-talach-1.4978101

A London lawyer wants the public to know where two ousted priests worked and faced allegations of sexual misconduct in the Diocese of London.

Both Fr. Moe Charbonneau and Fr. Andy Dwyer have since been banned from ministering in the diocese but the organization has refused to divulge where the allegations were made.

However, Rob Talach, partner at Beckett Personal Injuries Lawyers in London, said he's spoken to the victims and they have no problem revealing the locations.

Victim #1 was allegedly abused at St. Michael's parish in London and Blessed Sacrament parish in Chatham in 1982-1983, said Talach.

Victim #2 was allegedly abused at Holy Name of Mary parish in Windsor in the late 1970's.

"If they're going to be transparent as has been the almost global demand upon the Catholic church then they need to give these details," said Talach.

Lawyer Rob Talach said he spoke with the alleged victims of Frs. Dwyer and Charbonneau and they gave him permission to publicly identify where the alleged misconduct occurred. (Mary Sheppard/CBC)

But, the diocese maintains to reveal the locations of the allegations could lead to identifying the victims.

"We can only follow our own policy which is in place to safeguard the privacy of the people involved," said Nelson Couto, communications officer with the Diocese of London.

He said, the diocese has released the list of where the priests served over the years, but not the specifics of where or when "...because those sorts of things can lead to people jumping to conclusions."

'Quite the Sherlock Holmes'

Talach doesn't buy it.

"You'd have to be quite the Sherlock Holmes to put together somebody abused at St. Mary's parish in certain years to connecting that to a particular individual."

Instead, Talach said, he spoke with the victims and they have no problem telling the public where their alleged abuse occurred.

"The Charbonneau victim was abused through his association at St. Mary's Church and St. John the Evangelist church that's in Woodslee and Maidstone," said Talach in an interview on CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive.

In a newsletter sent out to parishioners, the diocese said the priest's victim was an adult and that it was not the first incident of misconduct. The woman sued the diocese and was compensated, said Talach.

"With respect to the Andy Dwyer victims, this involves teen boys and I've spoken with two of them," said Talach. The biggest fact here is they both told, as young men, the diocese in both 1994 and 1997 and little was done."

The diocese is concerned the specifics are being made public.

"In our opinion it's more prudent to protect that information," said Couto.

Talach accused the diocese of keeping the information private to protect itself more than protect victims.

"The more information, the more media coverage, the more victims and that's the last thing they want right now," said Talach. "I believe truly their motivation is to mitigate the damage to them both financially and public relations wise."