The Sault Star
03 November 2010
By FRANK DOBROVNIK, THE SAULT STAR
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Father William Hod Marshall just before leaving St. Mary’s - Sault Star File Photo
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When the criminal charges against Rev. William Hodgson Marshall are transferred to Windsor, Ont., expected Wednesday, they will include complaints from before and after the time he spent in Sault Ste. Marie, but not during.
Sgt. Lisa Kenopic confirmed Tuesday the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service has not charged Marshall, 88, with any criminal offence. Kenopic said city police have paid attention to their peers in Windsor, Sudbury and Toronto, where 16 offences are alleged against the retired Basilian priest.
“The original complaint was in Windsor, and more victims came forward after charges were laid there,” Kenopic said.Police cannot confirm or address whether a criminal investigation is being conducted on someone or has been — “only until charges are laid, and at this time, there are no charges,” she said.
The most recent charges, laid in Sudbury last month, include six counts of gross indecency and six counts of indecent assault, relating to abuses alleged to have occurred when he was teaching at St. Charles College from 1960 to 1970.
Charges were also laid in September in Toronto, where Marshall worked as a teacher at St. Michael’s College. A popular basketball coach, he is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy in a private room during an after-school basketball program in 1953.
At that time, the Toronto Police Service said it “believes there may be more victims.”
Det. Jocelyn Karr said Tuesday the police have not yet heard from more complainants. “Because we only had one complainant here in Toronto … we issued a press release to potentially invite more victims,” Karr said. “There was a press release saying he was charged, he was at St. Michael’s College and if there are others, this might be the impetus to get them to come forward.”
Marshall was originally charged with six offences against four men in May in Windsor, where he was principal at a secondary school after he left Sault Ste. Marie in 1985. He was principal of the all-boys St. Mary’s College here between 1980 and 1985. One of the incidents from Windsor is alleged to have occurred in Sault Ste. Marie, where Marshall had brought a Windsor student between 1985 and 1986.
He also faces six counts stemming from incidents in Sudbury between 1960 and 1970.
Over the decades, Marshall also lived in and taught in such disparate places as Houston, Tex., and Saskatoon, Sask. He was forced into retirement in 1997. That didn’t become public until years later — it was announced he would retire to do charity work in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia.
Const. Brett Corey, of the Windsor Police Service, acknowledged it would appear “somewhat unusual” that no one has come forward with any complaints from his time in Sault Ste. Marie.
“Given the fact he’s charged in other areas, it’s somewhat unusual,” Corey said.
Popularly known wherever he was as “Hod,” Marshall stayed in touch with colleagues in the Sault after he left and was a regular in the pages of The Sault Star over the years, particularly for his work in St. Lucia.
At the time of announcing his retirement, John Cameletti, then education director for the separate school board, said Marshall “symbolizes what Catholic education is all about.” His leaving was “a great loss to me, to the board, the staff, the students and the community as a whole,” Cameletti said at the time.
“His character and style as principal, teacher, priest and friend were a true example for the men of St. Mary’s.”
Reached at home Tuesday, the long-retired Cameletti said he has kept track of the growing complaints against his former colleague with shock. “I was surprised when I read it. More than that, I don’t know what to say.”
As for impressions at the time they worked together, he recalled a “competent principal” who “ran a good school,” he said.
“At the time he was here, all I can say is he fulfilled his duties.”