NEW BRUNSWICK (CANADA)
The Globe and Mail
November 15, 2017
By Kevin Bissett
A lawyer representing dozens of alleged Catholic sex abuse victims in New Brunswick says he expects hundreds more complainants may emerge.
Robert Talach said he believes more people will seek compensation through the courts after a 2012 reconciliation process that saw 80 victims compensated, and that the actual number of victims in the province is in the hundreds.
“It’s going to be shocking for people,” he said Wednesday from his office in London, Ont.
“You are talking dozens of victims for each priest. These guys were left in the field operating and abusing for decades.”
Talach said he believes that a CBC News estimate of 56 current lawsuits against the Catholic Church in the province is low, noting that he’s handling about 32 involving the late Camille Leger alone.
Leger was a priest in Cap-Pele, N.B., between 1957 and 1980. He died in 1990 and his accusers only came forward after his death.
“I’m not surprised by that,” said Talach. “People wait for a juncture in their life where they can deal with it. Sometimes people wait until their elderly, very Catholic parents pass away. There are triggers that are very individual to every person.”
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