CANADA
CBC News
One of the sex assault victims of former Winnipeg priest Ronald Léger has filed a $2.1 million lawsuit against him and the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface.
The victim, referred to only by initials in the statement of claim, accuses the archdiocese and the clerics of Saint Viator — which jointly employed Léger — of failing to take steps to stop the abuse and protect him.
Instead, they took steps to cover up the assaults and acted in a “harsh, high-handed and malicious” manner by trying to suppress information about Léger’s conduct and promoting a culture of secrecy that put their reputation over the safety of people, the claim says.
Léger, the former head of Holy Family Parish, was arrested early last year after three males came forward. Two were attacked in the 1980s, while the third occurred between 2002 and 2004.
He pleaded guilty in July 2015 to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference and was sentenced in February 2016 to two years behind bars. His name was also added to Canada’s national sex offender registry.
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