Abuse victims settle with church

Dollar amounts not disclosed, but both victims say they can now focus on healing

Sudbury Star

17 October 2008

Posted By CAROL MULLIGAN

There isn't enough gold in the Vatican to erase the suffering two men endured as child sexual abuse victims of a Roman Catholic priest in Warren almost 40 years ago, says one of the men.

But now that their legal battle with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie is over, they intend to focus on healing and reaching out to help other victims.

Robert Berube, 53, and a man who wishes only to be known as Claude, 49, held a news conference in Sudbury on Thursday to talk about their fight for justice.

The men were joined by lawyer Rob Talach, of the London-based firm Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers.

The diocese recently settled a suit with the men for years of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of Father Jean-Claude Etienne when he was parish priest at St. Thomas Apotre Parish and St. Thomas Separate School in Warren, which both men attended at different times.

"Some will misconstrue and state that we became multimillionaires at the expense of the diocese. Far from it," said Berube. "Claude and myself, we did not win the Lotto, and we did not do the happy dance."

Berube was suing the diocese for $3.1 million and Claude for $4.5 million for pain and suffering they said were the result of abuse by the priest they once loved. Etienne died in 1997 at the age of 66.

Berube came forward in July 2005 with claims of having been controlled, brutalized and raped by Etienne for 3 1/2 years, starting in 1969 when he was 13.

Claude announced in February 2007 he had filed a lawsuit against the diocese, alleging that when he was 10 and a devout altar boy, Etienne began sexually abusing, assaulting and molesting him for three years.

Talach said his clients, whose claims were resolved out of court, reached a "reasonable settlement" with the diocese.

"We're not going to get into (the amount) or terms" of those settlements, Talach told a half dozen reporters at the Radisson Hotel.

Berube called the settlement "agreeable," adding his "quest was for justice and healing. It was never for money."

To have "stayed and gone to court to get the last penny, it's wrong," he told reporters.

Berube was suing the diocese for $3.1 million and Claude for $4.5 million for pain and suffering they said were the result of abuse by the priest they once loved.

Etienne died in 1997 at the age of 66.

Berube was a school principal living in London, Ont., several years ago when he filed his lawsuit against the diocese.

Claude came forward with his claims of abuse almost two years after Berube, who held a news conference to announce he would no longer suffer silently.

Claude still lives in Warren and still shudders when he walks or drives past the church where some of the abuse Etienne inflicted on him was perpetrated.

Other men claiming to have been child victims of Etienne have come forward since Berube and Claude went public, and some were at Thursday's news conference, said Berube.

Talach said his clients' case against the diocese regarding the Etienne allegations got a boost from witnesses who "spoke up so the truth could be known ...

"As a result of the public's awareness of this matter, information was obtained, which assisted in corroborating their claims of abuse," said Talach, reading from a prepared statement.

The most dramatic information received was about a letter sent to Etienne in July 1970 by Alexander Carter, who was then bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.

"The letter, which was viewed by a witness, warned Etienne to stay away from a number of altar boys due to complaints from their parents," said Talach. "It listed a number of local boys by name."

Talach couldn't say if more lawsuits would be filed because of Etienne's abuse.

"But if he's as prolific as I learned he was through our investigation in these two cases, I won't be surprised if there's more."

Talach said the abuse Etienne inflicted on young boys was so traumatic, "many of the leads we followed led to suicides, usually related to drugs or alcohol. There's a clear link to childhood sexual abuse, though."

After Berube went public with his lawsuit in 2005, he said he heard from more than 50 men in the North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie areas who claim to have been abused by priests when they were children.

Many have filed lawsuits against the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.

Talach said Claude's case, which was announced at the same time as two others, was accelerated to be dealt with at the same time as Berube's.

"The other cases are trudging along through our civil litigation system, which is famous for being anything but fast."

Talach said Berube and Claude have received "some justice. I say some and not absolute justice, for their abuser died without having to account for his crimes.

"Another irreversible fact is that the damage inflicted upon their minds and souls will never completely fade."

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No public apologies for men

Sault diocese does give written apologies to two abused by priest

Sudbury Star

17 October 2008

Posted By CAROL MULLIGAN

Written apologies have been issued to two men who settled lawsuits with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie for childhood sexual abuse by a diocesan priest almost 40 years ago.

But a public apology won't be forthcoming from the diocese nor will money be contributed to a program to help men suffering post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of abuse by priests.

Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe, head of the diocese, said an apology has been issued "to the individuals concerned" -- Robert Berube and a man known only as Claude -- for sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of Father Jean- Claude Etienne, who died in 1999.

The abuse occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Warren where Etienne served as parish priest.

Berube, who launched his suit three years ago, has been asking for a public apology from Plouffe and the diocese for the abuse he endured as a teenager and the pain he has suffered in the last four decades.

"A public apology has not been the practice of the church," said Plouffe.

Berube and Claude are challenging the diocese to establish a program to help male sexual abuse survivors and to fund it.

A similar program in London is heavily funded by the Roman Catholic diocese, said Berube.

Both men have offered to give money and to seek donations from others, if the diocese starts a program to be run by a social service agency or hospital.

Plouffe said his diocese simply doesn't have the money to get involved in such a program.

"We can't go there," he said.

Details of the amount of the settlement reached between the two men and the diocese have not been revealed.

Plouffe said the agreement contains a confidentiality clause that was mutually agreed upon by both sides.

"I'm not even sure of the amount," Plouffe said in an interview Thursday.

When asked at a news conference Thursday if a gag order had been imposed as part of the settlement, Rob Talach, the lawyer for Berube and Claude, said: "You can ask the diocese."

Plouffe said an aide in the diocese told him both parties agreed nothing was to be gained by releasing details of the settlement.

When asked where the money would come from to pay the settlement, Plouffe replied: "It doesn't come from heaven."

The bishop said 15 per cent of the normal offerings collected at Sunday mass in individual parishes is forwarded to the diocese to fund its operations.

Those operations include pastoral services for the diocese and contributions to the Canadian and Ontario conferences of Catholic bishops.

Plouffe said some "worthwhile" pastoral services may have to be "restricted" or "restrained" and other expenses cut to cover the cost of legal settlements.

In some cases, diocesan insurance and funds from the estates of priests, living or dead, may help pay settlements, along with money from the diocesan operations budget.

Legal settlements do not only include financial remuneration.

Plouffe said some contain agreements to pay for counselling or therapy for victims "to hasten the reconciliation" process.

Ongoing therapy may be offered and paid for by the diocese if it is requested by victims. Plouffe said it is sometimes offered to people who allege they were sexually abused by priests, before those cases get to the legal stage.

Berube and Claude shared details of a lifetime of mental and physical suffering because of the abuse they suffered as children.

Berube, a school principal in London, has been on sick leave for years, suffering from depression and other problems.

Claude told reporters Thursday that he suffered such anxiety when he read about Berube's lawsuit against the diocese related to Etienne, he ended up in hospital for a week suffering from anxiety.

Claude said he was 11 or 12 when he told his mother he was not going back to the church because the priest had grabbed his "bum."

He said Thursday he would have taken the full secret of his abuse to his grave if Berube hadn't come forward with his story about the same priest.

Other men allege they were abused by Etienne, and some were present at Thursday's news conference at the Radisson Hotel.

Talach, who works for the London-based Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers, is working on seven or eight more lawsuits alleging child abuse by diocesan priests dating back decades.

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