Church blames victim's lawyer for lawsuit

Ottawa Sun

Last Updated: 12th June 2009, 1:13am

By SHANE ROSS, SUN MEDIA

The Catholic church is committed to "a process of justice, healing and reconciliation for the victims of clergy abuse," Monsignor Kevin Beach, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, said yesterday.

Beach was responding to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday against the archdiocese and Dale Crampton, a former priest in Ottawa who was convicted in 1987 of sexually molesting seven boys.

One of his victims, "Alex," who was 14 when he was assaulted by Crampton in 1982, held a news conference Wednesday to announce a $2-million lawsuit.

Beach said the church has assisted Crampton's known victims as much as possible. He suggested Alex's lawyer, Robert Talach of Ledroit Beckett, urged him to launch the lawsuit instead of communicating directly with the church.

Talach denied that accusation yesterday.

"My client contacted me with the purpose of seeking justice," Talach said. "I didn't urge anyone to launch a lawsuit or contact the media. There's almost an implied shame in (the church's) statement of suing the church or going public. Those mechanisms are there for Canadian citizens to seek justice, to get meaningful compensation, to penetrate this veil of secrecy."

Beach invited other victims "who may wish to seek justice and reconciliation" to call the Diocesan Centre (613-738-5025) and initiate the process. But Talach said the church can't expect victims of abuse to "just walk in the front door and deal with them."

"(T)he first thing that happens when you're victimized by an authority figure such as a priest is that you lose your sense of trust ...," he said.

Crampton has kept a low profile since serving his eight-month sentence in 1987. In fact, Talach has been unable to find him to serve him the lawsuit. The church received the lawsuit on his behalf. But after the Sun's story on Wednesday, a woman called the newspaper to say Crampton was living in Ottawa's west end.

SHANE.ROSS@SUNMEDIA.CA

Man suing over Ottawa clergy abuse put up to it by lawyer, diocese says

June 11, 2009

The Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — A day after a former altar boy announced he's suing Ottawa's Roman Catholic archdiocese over his abuse at the hands of a priest, the archbishop's spokesman suggested the man is only suing because a lawyer wants him to.

An Ottawa man who can only be identified as "Alex" filed suit for $2 million this week over claims he was assaulted by Rev. Dale Crampton, then the pastor at St. Maurice Church on Percy Street, beginning in 1982. In 1986, Crampton pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting seven altar boys. Four years later the archdiocese paid $150,000 to the families of three of the boys, but Alex said in a Wednesday news conference that he was unaware of the settlement and has never had so much as an apology from the church.

Msgr. Kevin Beach, the archdiocese's vicar general, said in a written statement Thursday that the church "is committed to a process of justice, healing and reconciliation for the victims of clergy abuse."

"The current case — which was the subject of [Alex's] news conference — was made known to us, for the first time, the day before (Tuesday) when we were served with notice of his lawsuit," Beach said. "I would think that it was at his lawyer's urging that this gentleman decided to launch a lawsuit, rather than communicate with us directly."

Beach spoke on behalf of Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, the statement says.

The diocese is asking other victims to call the diocese at 613-738-5025, "to initiate the process which includes access to independent legal advice."

Alex's lawyer Robert Talach asks anyone with information about the Crampton case to call him at 1-866-674-4994 to leave an anonymous message or to e-mail rtalach@ledroitbeckett.com.

Man sues pastor, Catholic diocese for suffering caused by sex assault

Former altar boy, now 40, says incident impaired his opportunities for normal adolescence, adulthood

The Ottawa Citizen 10 June 2009

By Brendan Kennedy,

OTTAWA-A 40-year-old Ottawa man who was sexually molested by his parish priest more than 25 years ago is suing the priest and the Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa for $2 million.

The man, who can only be identified as “Alex” due to a publication ban from the original trial, filed a statement of claim with the Ontario Superior Court Tuesday. The claim names Dale Crampton, a former pastor at St. Maurice Church on Perry Street, and the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Ottawa as defendants. It charges that Crampton’s actions and the archdiocese’s negligence caused Alex mental and emotional suffering, and impaired his opportunities to enjoy a normal adolescence and adulthood, among other damages.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese refused comment Wednesday, and said Ottawa’s archbishop, Terrence Prendergast, was not available.

“Any comments by the archdiocese, if any, will be made once the press reports are out,” said Ginette Chaumont.

Crampton, who served at St. Maurice for nine years and was also a school trustee in the late 1970s, pleaded guilty in December 1986 to indecently assaulting seven altar boys, between the ages of 10 and 14, from 1973 to 1982.

The assaults occurred at various church rectories and at Crampton’s cottage in West Carleton, and consisted mainly of Crampton fondling the boys’ clothed and naked genitals. Crampton did not threaten or physically injure the victims.

Crampton was diagnosed with alcoholism and pedophilia — with a preference for boys — and was originally given a suspended sentence, with no jail time, placed on probation and ordered to undergo psychiatric counselling. An appeal of that sentence was upheld in June 1987, and Crampton was sentenced to eight months in jail.

At a press conference Wednesday morning, Alex’s lawyer, Robert Talach of Ledroit Beckett, read a statement which said that in 1982, Alex was a boy who was defined by his interests in the Roman Catholic Church and hockey. He was an altar server with strong religious beliefs, and one night was invited by Crampton to the rectory to watch a hockey game with him on TV.

“Alex will always remember that night,” Talmach said, “not because of the hockey game he viewed, but because as he sat in front of that television, frozen with disbelief, a highly trusted and revered person in his life sexually molested him.”

Alex, a father who still lives in Ottawa, said it was only recently that he felt strong enough to come forward “to do what I feel is the right thing to do.”

He said it was important for him to confront his personal demons “head-on” in order to move on with his life, and to encourage any other victims to come forward. He also said that as his children grow older, he wants to do whatever he can to make sure what happened to him never happens to anyone else.

“What needs to be achieved here is an acknowledgement and recognition by (Crampton) and the Church that this happened,” Alex said, adding that an apology would be a step in the right direction, but that the archdiocese also needs to accept responsibility.

In February 1990, the archdiocese paid $150,000 to the families of three of the seven altar boys who had been abused by Crampton, but Alex said Wednesday that he was not aware of that settlement and was never contacted by the archdiocese or the other families. He said he only learned of it recently, when doing his own research.

He said the archdiocese has never apologized to him or approached him in any way to offer assistance.

Talach said Crampton’s current whereabouts are unknown.

“He has somewhat disappeared from the map at present,” Talach said, adding that he has been “off the radar since ’95,” when he was working for the Catholic Church in a non-parish role outside the Ottawa area.

Talach added that as far as he knew, Crampton, who was 50 when he was sentenced in 1987, was still living and still receiving a pension from the Church.

The archdiocese did not return requests to verify Crampton’s employment status.

Talach said a mediated settlement would be ideal for Alex, because it would avoid a traumatic trial. But without a trial, “information of a public good will be kept secret,” he said.

Talach and Alex ask anyone with information about the case to call an anonymous tips line at 1-866-674-4994 or e-mail rtalach@ledroitbeckett.com.

Struggling with scars of abuse

'Alex' was molested by Ottawa priest in 1982

By SHANE ROSS, Sun Media

Last Updated: 10th June 2009, 6:50pm

When “Alex” watches Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals Friday night, he’ll struggle to block a memory that has haunted him for the last 17 years.

Alex was a 14-year-old altar boy when, after Saturday mass in October 1982, he was invited by Rev. Dale Crampton to watch a hockey game in the rectory of St. Maurice parish in Ottawa.

Alex loved hockey. He trusted Crampton, a highly revered priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese who Alex and his family had known for about five years.

The answer was easy. Yes!

But as they sat in front of the TV, watching their favourite team, the Leafs, Crampton sexually molested Alex.

In 1986, Crampton was convicted of indecently assaulting seven altar boys, including Alex, over a decade. He served eight months in prison.

Alex, now 41, still living in Ottawa and with his children of his own, says he still suffers emotional distress from that night.

“I think about it a lot,” he said. “Every time I watch Hockey Night in Canada.”

Yesterday, Alex, whose real name is still protected by a court-ordered publication ban from 1987, announced a $2-million civil lawsuit against Crampton and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa.

He said he is launching the lawsuit to “seek out the truth, achieve personal healing, reach out to others who have been abused and prevent other children from suffering.”

Ginette Chaumont, communications officer for the archdiocese, said the church will reserve comment on the lawsuit until it reads today’s news reports. She said it would also clarify the church’s affiliation with Crampton, who Alex and his lawyers have been unable to locate.

“We’ve been looking for him for months (to serve him with the suit),” said Robert Talach of the law firm Ledroit Beckett.

The archdiocese told him they do not know Crampton’s whereabouts, but accepted the lawsuit papers on his behalf, Talach said.

“We’ve got to find him,” Talach said. “We know after his meagre eight months in prison he spent quite a period of time in London, Ontario, working at a marriage tribunal. There’s some rumour that he retired in ‘95. In the church that could mean you’re just taken off the active role and put on the pension payment. It could mean he got out of the priesthood, who knows?”

Alex realizes there is the possibility that Crampton, who would now be 72, has passed away.

At the least, he said, he’s looking for acknowledgment from the church that robbed him of much more than his spirituality.

“They never attempted to extend an offer of assistance,” he said.

Anyone with information regarding Crampton and his whereabouts are encouraged to call a toll-free tip line at 1-866-674-4994.