The following is the information I currently have regarding Grollier Hall and Father Martin Houston, “the Devil of Grollier Hall.” I will hopefully be receiving further information and documents in the future. The picture below was found online. I would appreciate an explanation as to how the various residences were incorporated, ie. were the boys’ and girl’s residences different wings of the building? or, are there other buildings?
For simplicity’s sake I am presenting the information in point format. I will be adding links to further information on this page. Any further information on Father Houston would be most welcome.
(1) Grollier Hall, a residential school for Indian and Inuit children in Inuvik,North West Territories, opened in 1959 and was run by the Oblates until 1985. It closed in 1997. The school was situated beside Stringer Hall, a similar facility operated by the Anglican church. Each facility had a capacity for 250 children. As of 1970 the government of the NWT assumed control of Stringer Hall.
Grollier Hall was close to the “Igloo Church,” the most photographed building in Inuvik.
(2) Grollier Hall comprised several residences- there was a senior boys’ residence, a junior boys’ residence, a junior girls’ residence and a senior girls’ residence. The girls’ and junior boys residences were administered by the Grey Nuns, the boys by the Oblates. For a brief spell the junior boys residence was supervised by an Oblate Brother. There are no allegations of sex abuse related to that Brother.
(3) Father Max Ruyant omi, an Oblate priest, served as administrator of Grollier Hall for 25 years. He died 01 December 1995 in Edmonton, Alberta.
(4) There were a number of male “supervisors” for the boys residences. The supervisors, all laymen, basically acted as dorm fathers, ensuring the boys were up in the morning, did their chores and their homework and so on. The supervisors were hired by Father Ruyant
(5) An RCMP task force was struck to investigate Grollier Hall sex abuse allegation.
432 people were interviewed. Initially 29 victims came forward. Other came forward later. Some never came forward. I don’t at this time have the number of victims.
Four Grollier Hall supervisors were eventually charged and convicted of sexual abuse of young boys at the school: Jerzy George Maczynski, Jean Comeau, Paul Leroux and Martin Houston.
Houston stood trial twice for his Grollier Hall crimes, once in the early 60s, and again in 2004. The other three stood trial in 1997 and 1998 in what many refer to as the Grollier Hall trials. Each of these three accused was tried separately.
Not all supervisors molested the boys. Those who did molest frequently molested the same boys. I understand that there are number victims who were molested by more than one of the supervisors.
(6) Martin Houston worked at Grollier Hall from 1960-1962.
Houston was charged and convicted in 1962 for the sexual abuse of five boys at Grollier Hall.
I have been told that Houston was caught because, while taking one of the boys with him for a trip to Alexandria Falls he had checked into a hotel with the boy, and, following their departure, a “love note” Houston had penned to the boy was found in the room.
(7) Houston was sentenced to 10 years in jail. He was declared a dangerous offender. He served nine years.
(8) During his incarceration Houston decided he was called to the priesthood. I have been told that he convinced an elderly couple to finance him through the seminary.
(9) Houston was kicked out of both the Oblate Novitiate in Arnprior Ontario and Nicodemus House in Edmonton, Alberta after about three months because of behavioural issues.
(10) Houston completed his seminary at St. Joseph Seminary and Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta.
Houston’s fellow seminarians did not know that he was a convicted child molester. One related to me in a recent phone call that during his seminary years Houston was “aggressive,” “defensive” and had quite a temper. Apparently it was not uncommon for Houston to erupt with “Why don’t you keep your F…n’ mouth shut?” The seminarians “avoided him like the plague.”
(11) In 19990 convicted molester and dangerous sex offender Martin Houston was ordained a priest by Bishop Antoine Hacault, Diocese of Saint Boniface Manitoba. Father Houston was incardinated in the Diocese of Saint Boniface.
According to one online source, Haucault sponsored Houston (to be a priest in his diocese) despite recommendations to the contrary from Catholic officials in Edmonton and in the North West Territories,
(12) After ordination Houston was first assigned to serve at Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. Complaints from parishioners led to his transfer Carman, Manitoba in 1997. I don’t know the nature of the complaints.
Houston was transferred to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Carman, Manitoba. That was 1997.
(13) The Grollier Hall trials ran through 1997 and 1998.
In March 1997 68-year-old Jerzy George Maczynskiwas sentenced to four years in jail. He entered a guilty plea to charges of indecent assault, gross indecency and buggery in the early 60s which were committed while employed at Grollier Hall (Macznski, who had been convicted twice for sex assault charges, was already serving a 16 years sentence in a BC court for sex offences committed in a BC residential school )
In February 1998 Jean Coumeau, then 64, was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of indecent assault.
In August 1998 58-year-old Paul Leroux was sentenced to 10 years in jail for sex offences committed at Grollier Hall between 1967 and 1979. The charges included gross indecency, indecent assault, attempt to commit indecent assault and attempted buggery. (Leroux had a prior 1979 conviction for sexual abuse of a boy in Inuvik. Of interest is the fact that, despite that conviction, in 1980 Leroux was hired by the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Vancouver. He served as regional director from 1988-1994. In 1990 he obtained a pardon. In 1994 became a freelance investigator contracting to the CRHC and B.C. Human Rights Commission. Also of interest is the fact Leroux, who was raised in Granby Quebec, claimed that he was sexually abused as a teenager when he was with the church choir )
I am told that tensions in the community were such at the Leroux trial that security was at an all time high. There were RCMP spotters on the roof of the courthouse, Leroux arrived wearing a bullet-proof vest. There were plainclothes RCMP officers in the crowd: they were armed.
(14) There were four suicides during the Grollier Hall trials. All were victims of Paul Leroux.
(15) It seems that Houston’s name re-surfaced during the Grollier Hall trials. And, it seems it was around this time that the Grollier Hall ‘boys’ learned that Houston was now a priest. They were upset and angry.
On hearing the news Harold Cook headed off to Winnipeg to speak to “Houston’s superior.” Harold, a Victim’s Advocate throughout the trials and now a Crown Witness Co-ordinator in the NWT, was molested by both Leroux and Comeau.
Harold does not recall the name of the priest he talked to, but he recalls the meeting vividly.
According to Harold, it was probably sometime in 1998 that he met the priest at the Elephant Castle in the Delta Hotel in Winnipeg. During that meeting the priest allegedly told Harold not to worry about Father Houston: there had been a miracle …Father Houston had been cured of his sexual problems.
On hearing news of such a miracle Harold says he told the priest: ‘if you have a pocketful of miracles why not apply it all sex offenders and then there won’t be any sexual abuse.’
According to Harold, at that the priest uttered an expletive, pushed himself from the table and was gone. Harold was left to foot the bill.
The timing of the “miracle” is unknown. Was it before Houston’s ordination? Had it just transpired? Harold doesn’t know.
(16) I believe it was after the Elephant Castle meeting that an official from the Saint Boniface diocese advised Grollier Hall victims that Martin Houston was going to apologize. A meeting was arranged by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. Martin was a no show.
(17) As a result of the Grollier Hall trials, two more victims of Houston came forward and reported to police.
(18) In 2002 parishioners at Our Lady of Carmel in Carman, Manitoba learned for the first time that their parish priest was a convicted child molester. They were not amused.
Molester aside it seems that parishioners had been encountering troubles with their parish priest.
According to one undated account from the Edmonton Journal found online:
“The council told the Archbishop that Houston has struggled in his role as parish priest. ‘These struggles relate to emotional instability, aggressive outbursts, inappropriate speech contained in his sermons, and insulting remarks directed to a variety of parishioners both inside and outside the Church.’…. Many parishioners say it is clear that Houston is unable to perform his priestly duties and needs medical care. But they wonder whether he will get the help they say he needs given the silence from the diocese.”
The description of his character is eerily akin to that given to me recently by the priest who was in St. Joseph’s seminary at the same time as Houston.
(19) I’m not sure when the new Houston victims came forward, nor do I know when charges were laid. I do know that in 2004 Father Martin Houston was convicted – again.
Houston received a suspended sentence. The recollection by some familiar with the trial is that the court felt Houston had already paid for his crimes with his previous sentence, plus his designation as a dangerous offender was somehow deemed grounds for such leniency
Victims were understandably disappointed and upset.
(20) Houston used to get the boys out of the bed in the middle, tell them to strip and order them to run around naked in front of him.
As I mentioned elsewhere, Houston was known to tie string to a boy’s penis and pull on the string.
He sodomized some if not all of his victims.
He is known to the victims as: “The Devil of Grollier Hall.”
According to Harold Cook, Father Rayaund exhibited a “silent anger” toward boys who complained of sexual abuse.
(21) Asked if he ever told anyone about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Leroux and Comeay Harold replied that, yes, as a child he told Father Ruyant and one of the nuns. According to Harold he was told: ‘no, people of God don’t do this.’ Harold felt he had no choice but to let it go. Years later Harold almost whispers: “the shame was so great I didn’t want to tell anyone. "
“’On a dead man’s door you can knock forever.’ That’s the way the Church has been toward us” That’s what Harold told me.
(22) 25 August 2010: Father Martin Houston, twice convicted molester and dangerous sex offender, died.
30 August 2010: funeral Mass for Father Martin Houston at St. Boniface Cathedral, St. Boniface Manitoba, Archbishop Albert Legatt presiding.
Good Day, my name is David Cook and I was in Grollier Hall at the time these abuses had taken place. I was not aware that they were taking place and it was not till years later that I noticed that these same abused individuals were always around the “abuser”; Paul Leroux. The one thing that I wanted to mention, is that some of us were not abused. I was one of the TEST skiers and we were treated differently than the other boys; we ate seperatley in a room attached tot he main cafteria. Our day started at 6 am, we would go for a run to the hospiatl, back to the hostel and into the gym for morning exercises. Go to school till 4 pm and then go skiing till 5 pm. We would have supper and then do our studies afterwards. Then around 7:30 we would go the Canadian Forces gym and do more exercises, and than back to the hostel and play more sports and then to bed. Next, day start all over. As a skier, we would travel for months at a time and we had to do our school work as well, and therefroe had school assignments for two/three months at a time. We learned from the school books. My comments are those of a person not abused and a cross country skier who raced for the community I came from – Fort Good Hope and I raced for the NWT and for Canada. Thank you for your time and have a nice day.
That’s good for us all to remember David. There is an old saying coined in Cornwall, Ontario “A thief doesn’t strike every house in the block.” It’s very true. Not every child in a molester’s path was/is molested. And, in that same vein, obviously not everyone at the Grollier Hall was molested. I am sure that once you heard about what had been going you must have considered yourself to be very fortunate.
Congratulations on your cross country ski endeavours. Sounds like your days were busy!
they took my common law away with suicide, and I still deal with it throughout the years, I often wonder how this will affect our son
I still feel cheated
Margo, I am so terribly sorry. Such pain. I know it is easy for me to say, but you must try to be strong for your son. Help him to be a man who would make his father proud.
Was your husband a victim of Houston Margo?
I sealed the sexual abuse that haunted me for 48-49 years. Sexually assault as they call today back in 62 it was known as rape. It was blocked in the back of my mind and finally in August 2008 I finally released that information during my counselling sessions. I became isolated and a loner and my parents passed on without ever knowing what happened to me while in the hands of John/Jean Comeau. I started drinking at age 13 and in 1989 contimplated suicide. More information can be provided to anyone who is willing to listen. I was picked up on June 8, 1990 by the Lord Jesus Christ. He lead through these trials by carrying me and I am so thankful to Him. People we can be set free from all that pain when you decide to make that step toward a healing journey.
Welcome home Paul ! Keep on keeping on the new path. God Bless !
Its a beautiful journey when I can actually see in front of me and not covered by a mask…
My mother was a survivor of residential school that lived a painful life she left us in 2002 at the age of 50, I was 17 and never knew what anguish she lived through in that school, I hadn’t even known such evil existed, but years later I came to realize that the way she was was because she was hurting, it wasn’t because she wanted to be angry towards us or lack showing affection and love she just simply did not know how. I feel very cheated that she had to go through this, but worst that she never explained to us (her children) what she had gone through so it was just like she was an angry women for no reason and now we all have to live on with that legacy, trying not to be the abusers to our children. The worst thing I think of is that if I only knew I could have tried to help her through the pains in her life instead of being angry towards her for drinking and dragging us through bullshit, I feel like I’ve been stripped of a mother who had so much love for us but was blocked in her own body. That eventually killed her, shame on residnetial schools!!!
Thanks for sharing that with us anonymous. Your blog is a reminder to victims that others, including your children, so often do want to help, and would do so if they only knew about the abuse.
You remind me a little of a blogger who calls himself JG. Right JG? I think you probably understand exactly what anonymous is saying?
I walked into the main door of Grollier Hall at the age of 15 during the fall of of 1979 and I clearly remember …..being quite intimidated , knowing and hearing about all the horror stories regarding this institution. However as I continued walking down to the senior boy’s residence and being introduced to the place…..the song ” Let The Good time’s Roll ” was blaring through the speakers in the dormatory. I was introduced to some of the students and will never forget their friendliness and hospitality. Over the following year I made such great friends from all over the NWT …Paulatuk, Aklavik, Fort Good Hope, Fort MacPherson,Fort Norman, Sachs Harbour. I will also never forget the guidance and professional supervision of our supervisor’s during my 2 year stay at Grollier Hall,….Gordie and Louie Savoie….and especially Ralph Bertrum. I am forever grateful for my time in Grollier Hall and made a lifetime of friends and truly believe that only a very small percentage of students who stayed at Grollier Hall were preyed/ victimized by previous employees of this government/ church contracted institution which is most unfortunate. I grew up in a home which was way more strict and confining than the residential school I resided during my grade 11 and 12 years in Inuvik and consider those years to be some of the best times of my life….I only wish it was this way for everyone else!!
Thankfully indeed you are one of the lucky ones Francis. And yes, there are many who, like you, have fond memories of their times in a residential school. “A thief doesn’t strike every house in the block” and so, while it is fact that they were many who were abused, there were many others who were spared such fate.
I am curious Francis. Were there actually horror stories about Grollier Hall circulating throughout the North back in 1979? What were they? What had you heard of Grolloer Hall that made you afraid?
*Both of my parents have gone to residential school. They both were molested as well. They even went to the same schools. Its so hard having parents that are going through the healing process. Its like if you dont’s understand what your parents are goin through you’d never know how to try and help. Like the more you ask they just get even madder at you. But my mom and dad finally was able to speak of what they went through. I think its important for teens to know that, the schooling systems nowaday, we are so lucky we didnt have to go to these places. My heart goes out to all the people who’ve passed on while at this school, who’ve all been molested, Like they say the healing continues.
Anonymously, your parents are very fortunate to have a son or daughter like you who wants to and tries to understand. Keep loving them. They need your love.