HALIFAX (NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA)
McKiggan Hebert Law Firm
September 14, 2020
[Includes link to class action pleadings.]
McKiggan Hebert Lawyers in Halifax has filed a class action against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth on behalf of persons who allege they were sexually abused by priests from the Archdiocese from 1960 to date.
The class action, filed by Douglas Champagne on behalf of other sexual abuse survivors, claims that the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Halifax-Yarmouth, more commonly known as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, had a decades long policy of secrecy of any allegations of sexual abuse against a priest.
Several priests from the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth have been criminally convicted of sexually abusing children within the Archdiocese.
Champagne alleges he was sexually abused by Father George Epoch, a notorious sexual abuser, while Epoch was working as a priest at Canadian Martyrs Church in Halifax. Champagne claims that the sexual abuse had lasting and permanent effects on his life.
The lawsuit claims that the Archdiocese sent priests accused of sexual misconduct to Southdown Institute, a treatment facility in Ontario, and then placed the priests back into parishes without any notice or warning to parishioners.
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