Sudbury Star
23 June 2010
Posted By RACHEL PUNCH, THE SUDBURY STAR
Three more victims have come forward alleging they were sexually abused by a former St. Charles College teacher and principal while he was working in Windsor.
Rev. William Hodgson Marshall, 87, appeared in court in late May to face a charge of sexual interference for incidents that occurred while he was working at a Windsor school in the 1980s.
“As a result of seeing that in the media here, the other victims have come forward,” said Windsor Police Sgt. Brett Corey.
The alleged assaults “took place here when all these men were in school in the Windsor area,” Corey said.
Marshall taught at St. Charles College in Sudbury from 1967 to 1969, then served as principal in 1973-74 and returned in 1980.
He was also principal at St. Mary’s College in Sault Ste. Marie between 1980 and 1985. He then went to Windsor, where he taught at Holy Names High School. Marshall taught in Windsor until at least 1989. In 1993, he retired from the school system and moved to St. Lucia to carry out missionary work.
According to The Houston Chronicle, Marshall also taught math and coached basketball at a high school in Houston, Tex., in the 1956-57 school year.
Marshall formally retired in 1997. He now lives in Toronto in a residence for Basilian priests.
Greater Sudbury Police Const. Albert Lapalme said no one has come forward in Sudbury claiming to be a victim since Marshall’s arrest.
Rev. Thomas Rosica, a spokesperson for the Basilians, said people have called Rev. Richard Wahl regarding the investigation.
“I know people have called … Every call that comes forward is investigated immediately,” Rosica said. “That’s all I can tell you.”
He said information about the case is not being released by the Basilians because the case is before the courts.
Marshall’s next court date in Windsor is on July 14.
Greater Sudbury did have a small claims case in 2002 involving Marshall.
At the time, a former St. Charles College student was awarded more than $10,000 in damages related to alleged sexual assaults he said he suffered at the hands of Marshall.
Tadeusz (Ted) Holland was also awarded costs and interest in Small Claims Court in Sudbury. Holland filed the claim against the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and Marshall, seeking compensation for psychotherapy sessions he said he needed to deal with the psychological effects of the sexual assaults.
The Small Claims Court judge said because neither defendant filed a defence and because Holland had provided proof of his costs, she had to rule in his favour.
The Catholic board later filed an appeal.
Gina Tullio, spokesperson for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, said the board has looked through all of its files and does not have any documentation to confirm that the appeal was ever pursued.
“We could not find anything,” she said.
None of the senior administration working at the board now was there at the time, she said.