TORONTO (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Global News
February 11, 2021
By Jacquelyn LeBel
The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed a Roman Catholic diocese’s appeal of a May 2020 decision from Ontario’s top court that allowed a woman who was sexually abused by a priest as a child to sue the church for a second time.
The court’s decision on Thursday means that Irene Deschenes can now go ahead with her $4.83-million civil suit.
“It’s not too late for the Roman Catholic Church to do the right thing and support my healing process,” Deschenes said at a virtual event following the decision.
“It’s too late to take back the re-victimization I have endured over the decades, including having to go through appeal after appeal. But it’s not too late to move forward from here with actions that offer justice, compassion or the Christianity that the church purports is their practice.”
Deschenes initially filed a lawsuit in 1996, alleging she was sexually abused by Father Charles Sylvestre in the early 1970s in Chatham, Ont., and that the London diocese failed to prevent it.
She settled out of court after the diocese maintained it didn’t know of any concerns about the priest until the late 1980s, but it later came to light that the diocese received police statements in 1962, alleging the priest had assaulted three girls.
“The Supreme Court decision is final in terms of the issue of whether the previous settlement was binding. The court has implicitly affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals, saying Irene should not be bound by a settlement based on a misrepresentation to her by the church,” Deschenes’ lawyer Loretta Merritt explained.
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