CANADA
Anglican Journal
November 9, 2017
By Joelle Kidd
A woman who claims a priest in the diocese of Fredericton tried to kill her is suing him, the Anglican Church of Canada, the diocese of Fredericton, and the Corporation of the Anglican Parish of St. Stephen (Christ Church Anglican), in St. Stephen, N.B.
Cynthia Mae Moore claims that she and the Rev. William Morton, who was rector at the Anglican Parish of St. Stephen, carried on an extra-marital affair between February 2012 and December 2015.
She alleges that on Nov. 24, 2015, while she was visiting Morton at his house, he threatened to skin her alive and scrape her breasts with a box cutter, according to a statement of claim filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saint John, N.B., October 2.
After she left, Moore alleges that Morton came to her house and attempted to kill her. “He succeeded in cutting her breasts and abdomen with a box cutter,” the statement of claim reads.
Moore alleges that on December 8, 2015, Morton attacked her again and “attempted to kill her with a knife to her throat.”
According to the CBC, that same day, Morton was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a weapon after “the St. Stephen RCMP received a 911 call about a disturbance involving a man and a woman, shortly before 1 a.m.” Morton, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment. He later changed his pleas to guilty of both offences on August 23, 2016.
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