CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press
By: Carol Sanders
Posted: 07/6/2016
A 22-year-old Winnipeg man is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface, the priest who sexually abused him and the religious order Clercs de Saint-Viateur du Canada for $2.1 million in damages.
Rev. Ronald Leger, former pastor of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street, was convicted of sexually assaulting the young man when he was a boy as well as two other boys and sentenced in February to two years in jail.
The statement of claim filed for the victim, known only by his initials, says the archdiocese “took no steps to stop the behaviour or to protect the plaintiff and, instead, took steps to attempt to cover up the behaviour.” It said the the conduct of the order and the archdiocese was “harsh, high-handed and malicious” and needs to be punished. Instead of reacting appropriately to Leger’s sexual misconduct, “it transferred him to new postings where further unsuspecting victims awaited.” It claims they “consciously and deliberately” suppressed information about Leger’s sexual misconduct in an effort to protect the reputation of the order and the archdiocese. They promoted a culture of secrecy with respect to sexual misconduct of clergy to benefit the order and the archdiocese rather than stop the misconduct or help the victims, it said. They failed to contact the plaintiff’s parents and police when they learned about Leger’s actions, the statement of claim alleges.
The archdiocese still hasn’t helped the victim, it said. “It has failed, to this day, to investigate the extent of Leger’s past behaviour and has failed to render any assistance to the plaintiff, contrary to its own internal policies and the policies of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.