Who paid for this travesty of justice?

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Well, I don’t know what to say.  At a loss for words,

Father Linus Bastien , accused molester ordained to the priesthood  for the Diocese of London Ontario in 1951, is dead.

How this case managed to drag on through the courts for all of these years without getting to trial or evoking a guilty plea is beyond comprehension.

Just look at this:

October 2011:   first charged October  2011:  two counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency

27 October 2011:  further two charges laid, one of indecent assault and one of gross indecency

12 February 2012:  further two charges laid, one of indecent assault and one of gross indecency

November 2012:  further charges laid in Chatham, Ontario

27-28 February  and 03 March  2014:   Preliminary hearing.  Committed to stand trial on 30 counts of gross indecency, indecent assault, sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching against 12 boys, most of whom, if not all, were former altar boys.  The charges related to twelve male complainants and dated to between July 1963 and July 1989.

Do you see that?  In early 2014, two-and-a-half years after the first charges were laid, he was committed to stand trial.

There was no trial.

Instead…

In January 2015 Bastien was busily disputing the charges,  arguing that the judge at the preliminary hearing had made errors in law

No luck on that angle.

The next angle (to elude justice) was arguing that he was unfit to stand trial.

By 25 February 2016, at least one understandably frustrated victim had had it.

Small wonder.

Errors in law.

Unfit to stand trial.

All from a priest!

Disgusting.

Never mind the nonsense about definitions and the charges laid,  The question which needed asking of  Father Bastien was:  Did you do it or not do it?  Never mind trying to get ‘off’ on a technicality.  Did you, Father Bastien, a Roman Catholic priest, did you or did you not, sexually abuse those 12 boys?

And another.  Regarding your concerns about fitness to stand trial.   You knew from the day those first charges were laid that the years were creeping up on you.  Why, if you profess innocence,  did you, a Roman Catholic priest, not insist the case go to trial?

The latter did not of course happen.  Rather, this thing dragged on from year to year, and with each year the  elderly priest miraculously grew yet a year older.

And then the news:  Father Linus Bastien was hospitalized, and, of course, the previously scheduled fitness hearing was rescheduled to late October 2016.

Yes, rescheduled to late October 2016.

Can you really believe it?

October 2016.

And now, he’s dead.

I may be mistaken, but I think that’s the way he wanted it to play out?

Did the Diocese of London pick up the hefty nigh to five year tab for Bastien’s legal services?  Was it the diocese which paid to have this priest elude justice and betray the victims time and time again?

If not the diocese, who?

Was it we the tax payer?  Did we pay for it?

Who paid for this travesty of justice?

My heart goes out to all you men who were sexually abused by Father Linus Bastien, to all of you who finally summoned the courage to do the right thing and go to police after years upon years of silence.

Stay strong all of you.   Please, in this difficult time,  try to stay strong.  Find a way to direct you anger and frustration in a positive direction.  Write letters.  Write to the bishop.  Write to Crown.  Write to you MP and or your MPP.  Write letters to the editor.  Get it off your chest.  Let people know.   Do what you can to ensure that  a travesty of justice such as this can not happen again.

I ask everyone to please keep the victims and their families in you prayers.

Enough for now,

Sylvia

This entry was posted in Accused or charged, Bishops, Canada, Clerical sexual predators, Scandal, Trials and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Who paid for this travesty of justice?

  1. Sylvia says:

    A reminder that Father Linus Bastien is one of the priests who used to travel to Bishop Eugene Laroque’s cottage Quam Bonum, a property on Big Rideau Lake purchased in 1968 by Larocque and a group of priests from the London Diocese.

    • 1 abandoned sheep says:

      Sylvia, it is the same old, same old. There is only one source of revenue within the Catholic Church- the laity ! Until the laity, as the source of revenue stops being the source, no one in the hierarchy will be accountable to anyone- at least not on Earth. Bishops are supposed to be a continuance of the Apostles- Too many are following the apostle Judas.

  2. Dan Bennett says:

    Bastien’s only hope was to avoid justice. Time was on his side in that regard. With enough funds for lawyer’s fees and a judge who was willing to indulge the defence in every court delay possible, he got what he wanted. What the legal system in Ontario needs are time protocols for cases where those involved in a criminal case are 75 years old or older or are otherwise in declining health. – Dan Bennett*
    * – Not my actual name, since I was the lead witness in this case and remain under a publication ban.

    • BC says:

      As this was a criminal procedure what you refer to as the legal system in Ontario is not a valid point. There is only one criminal code in Canada it’s Federal and it applies equally to every Province and Territory. Canadian taxpayers are not lobbying the Federal Government for major criminal code reform. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has moved the goal posts; for the better as it is widely believed that the rates of wrongfull convictions have been drastically reduced; and for the worst as criminals are getting away with their crimes everywhere; everyday in Canada. Wanna amend the Constitution of Canada, of which The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of? Then, you`ll need 7/50: unanimous consent of 7 Provinces and 50% of the vote. It’s not going to happen for another 45 years: Canada 2.0 was designed to live for 75 years.

      What you are proposing (differential age consideration) would breach Section 15 of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is the Invisible Hand that is tormenting the minds of victims of so-called historical-clerical abuse cases.

  3. MichaelHarren hh says:

    Does this dead priest believe that by eluding trial and never answering to the charges that God would not hold him accountable? For a certainly God will hold him accountable no matter how long it dragged on and the victims can gain consolation from the fact that he will never hurt another child and that they were courageous to come forward to watch this coward use every loophole or avenue to avoid trial.

  4. Dan Bennett says:

    I appreciate what you have written Michael. However, being one of his victims myself, I can’t quite agree that I can, as you wrote “gain consolation from the fact that he will never hurt another child…” Linus Bastien might be dead, but there are plenty more priests just like him and an unchanging culture within the Catholic church that will inevitably lead to the victimization of more children. As sure as the sun will rise, there will be more pedophile priests and more victims. Much like what was portrayed in the movie “Spotlight”, we need to look beyond individual priests and instead look at the prevailing church practices that allow these atrocities to happen again and again.

  5. Geenda says:

    Dan Bennett as a victim myself I couldn’t agree more. I keep saying this is the tip of the iceberg and I fully believe it. Children in poorer countries where “missionary” priests were sent and no doubt continued their vile practices, will face their accusers. This is now a global community and there will no longer be a place to hide. They will be accused and eventually face justice. Abused children grow up.

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