There is very little media coverage on the two trials. I have posted all the articles I can find to date on the Gabriele DelBianco sex abuse trial in Sarnia, Ontario. All are written by Noel Bowen from the Sarnia Observer. I was hoping for a few reporters in attendance simply because each reporter adds a few more details of the goings on in the courtroom and the testimony. I am still trying – without luck to date – to track down what someone saw or heard on CBC.
Here is the coverage posted to date of today (Thursday, 17 October 2013):
17 October 2013: “Gabriele DelBianco on trial in Sarnia for sexual assault involving four girls ” & related articles
17 October 2013: Gabriele DelBianco on trial in Sarnia for sexual assault involving four girls
Barring media there were only about eight or nine people in the courtroom today. Considering that some of those are family of the complainants, a small turnout. Once again I urge those who are within driving distance of the Sarnia courthouse to get down there . Your presence does and will make a difference.
Gabriel Del Bianco’s wife was not in court.
Please note, start time for tomorrow morning is 11 am.
I gather from the media coverage that Andrew Brady was as usual going the distance for his client, an accused child molester. I recall quite vividly how Brady seemed to take control of the courtroom in Windsor, Ontario during the Father Hod Marshall sentencing. He truly did command that courtroom. It was as though he owned the place. It was both bizarre, and unsettling.
Is he the same at trial?
Does a leopard change its spots?
Now for a question which popped into my mind today: Who pray tell is paying Andrew Brady’s handsome fees? Does anyone know?
Is Gabriele DelBianco digging deep into his own pockets to hire the “best” (ie what is jestingly known in Cornwall as a “damn good lawyer”) ? is he passing the hat at family gatherings? and is asking his clients to throw a few extra dollars in the jar at the end of a counselling session?
Or, is the London Diocese picking up the tab? Perhaps the insurance company is paying? or, perhaps it’s right out of diocesan coffers?
Does anyone know?
*****
Not a word as yet about the Paul Leroux sex abuse trial in Battleford, Saskatchewan. Even with the time change there is usually a news story out by now. Did the trial carry on today? has something caused a delay? or, is it just a case of waiting until tomorrow morning for coverage?
Hopefully there will be news in the morning.
Please continue to keep all the complainants and their families in your prayers.
Enough for now,
Sylvia
Sylvia,
To respond to your question, I don’t know if anybody knows for sure, but I doubt the church is paying his legal fees. The church seems to have written him off. Gabe’s dad died recently and apparently left a sizable inheritance. Gabe used it to pay off the mortgage on a property in Kincardine where he now lives and counsels. Maybe he got a second mortgage. The property in Auburn has been sale for nearly four years. He no longer lives or counsels there.
Gabe and his wife have also been working as landscapers/gardeners in Kincardine and area. He is using her last name for business. Her family may also be helping with money as, apparently, they all believe he is innocent.
So my guess is that he’s paying. But who is really paying is all of his victims; those who sued, those who took him to criminal court and those who haven’t and may never come forward.
Just so you know, I learned all this from a survivor who lives in Huron County and has been watching this case.