The Edmonton Journal (edmontonjournal.com)
19 January 2012
BY RYAN CORMIER
EDMONTON – A former altar boy who claims he was sexually abused by a Grande Cache priest and an Edmonton church employee in the 1970s is suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton for $6.8 million.
The man, who now lives in British Columbia, was an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Basilica in downtown Edmonton from 1973 to 1975. For three years before that, he was part of the congregation. He was a teenager at the time.
The lawsuit alleges he was “sexually abused, assaulted and battered” by Patrick O’Neill while at the Grande Cache Parish on an altar boy exchange program. O’Neill was a priest in the parish at the time.
The lawsuit states that the archdiocese failed to remove O’Neill from his duties when they it should have been aware of abuse allegations. The archdiocese “failed to investigate reports or other information indicating that there was a problem or a potential problem with respect to Patrick O’Neill’s access to and relationship with children.”
The archdiocese also failed to report allegations against O’Neill to proper authorities, the lawsuit alleges. Statements of claim contain allegations not proven in court.
The Grande Cache Parish was supervised and managed by Edmonton’s archdiocese at the time.
O’Neill was given a two-year conditional sentence in December 1999 after he pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of two boys. That abuse occurred in the 1990s. At the time, O’Neill was already serving a two-year prison term for fondling three boys and attempting to sodomize one in the 1970s in Galahad, about 150 km southeast of Edmonton.
The lawsuit also accuses the archdiocese of failing to establish proper policies and procedures with respect to access to children and the investigation of potential sexual abuse issues.
In a separate lawsuit, the same man is also accusing a former employee of St. Joseph’s Basilica of sexual abuse. When the boy was a member of the congregation, but not yet an altar boy, the statement of claim alleges the employee developed a relationship with the boy, gave him gifts and “groomed” him for eventual abuse.
As a result of that abuse, the man was fired from his position with the archdiocese, the lawsuit says.
The archdiocese allowed both men to have children from the church in their homes without proper supervision, the man says.
In the decades since the alleged sexual misconduct, the man has suffered psychiatric disorders, severe depression, anxiety, personality disorders, loss of confidence, decreased social skills, post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares.
He has gone through extensive therapy and will need more.
The alleged victim filed two lawsuits against the archdiocese, each for $3.4 million.
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Ex-altar boy sues Catholic church over sex abuse allegations
Toronto Sun
FIRST POSTED: | UPDATED:
BY TONY BLAIS , EDMONTON SUN
EDMONTON – A former altar boy who alleges he was sexual abused by a priest and a church organist has filed two $3.4-million lawsuits against the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton.
The alleged victim, a 51-year-old man now living in Vancouver, claims the sexual abuse happened in the early and mid-’70s, when he was a member of the congregation at St. Joseph’s Basilica in Edmonton.
According to one of two statements of claim filed Jan. 6, the man said he was initially sexually assaulted by a person employed at St. Joseph’s as an organist and music director.
He alleges that, between 1970 and 1973, the man gave him gifts and groomed him for eventual sexual abuse. He also claims the man, who is named as a defendant, was fired from his position as a result of the abuse.
He alleges both the man and the Catholic archdiocese are liable for the sexual abuse as they were responsible for his care and supervision.
He also claims the archdiocese was negligent for allowing the organist to carry out the alleged sexual abuse, allowing him access to children and failing to prevent it. As well, he says the archdiocese was negligent for failing to report the abuse allegations to the authorities.
As a result of the alleged abuse, the alleged victim claims he suffered pain and anguish, severe psychological trauma, life-long depression, severe anxiety, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder.
In the second statement of claim, the man alleges he was sexually abused by former priest Patrick O’Neill between 1973 and 1975 while in an exchange program for altar boys at other parishes including one in Grande Cache, Alta.
He alleges O’Neill, who is named as a defendant, was the priest at the Grande Cache Parish at the time.
He also claims the archdiocese is liable for the alleged sexual abuse by O’Neill.
Statements of claim contain unproven allegations. Statements of defence have not yet been filed.
Meanwhile, O’Neill was sentenced to two years in jail in 1998 after earlier being convicted of charges related to the sexual abuse of three boys between 1971 and 1984.
In 1999, he was given a two-year conditional sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two Irish boys he hosted on a visit to Edmonton.