Father Paul-Andre Harvey document translation

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The Father Paul Andre Harvey documents are posted.  I am seeking the help of those of you who are bilingual to enlighten those of us who unfortunately are not.

I broke the documents into four files, only because that seemed to follow on the breakdown into the four Annexes.

23 April 2018 (?):  Father Paul-Andre Harvey documents Annexe 4 

23 April 2018 (?):  Father Paul-Andre Harvey documents Annexe 3 

23 April 2018 (?):  Father Paul-Andre Harvey documents Annexe 2 

23 April 2018:   Father Paul Andre Harvey documents Annexe 1

I have dated the files “23 April 2018” because of the date on the cover letter or whatever it is which is signed on that date.  I see that there are other dates on other documents but am uncertain as to how they relate to the preparation of the entire package.

A few questions:

(1) Does he ever express what could constitute or at least sound like genuine remorse for molesting those little girls?

(2)  Does he ever address the negative impact his actions have had on the faith of his victims and their families?

(3)  Is there anything remotely spiritual in what he has to say?

This thread will be kept solely for translations of the above documents.  I invite/beg/implore your assistance!  Please post paraphrases, direct translations as comments below.  I would ask some of you directly to to do this, but realize it is a big job so am hoping it can be a joint effort with each contributing a little for the benefit of all.

Enough for now,

Sylvia

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30 Responses to Father Paul-Andre Harvey document translation

  1. bc says:

    question 1:
    he seemed to be remorseful insofar his abuse of one of his victims in particular (Sylvie) because of what he considers to be his premeditated (his word) abuse of her. In reference to his other victims, he regarded his abuse as being more circumstantially opportunistic and he was much less remorseful for those crimes. Example: he wrote: – Without molesting her I would invite a young girl to sit on my lap, even if she was a shy adolescent. And for a few seconds I would touch her genital area. A few times I put my hand inside their panties.

    question 2:
    yes he did acknowledge the negative impact of his perversions on the lives of some of his victims. But not all of them. He indicated that some had exagerated his actual role in their complaints against him; but having spent nearly 30K for his legal defense he had run out of money to challenge these allegations.
    question 3:
    Referring to himself as being exiled he wrote that – the God who cared for little birds would surely also care for him. – He wrote: upon my release from custody I intend to make a substantial donation to a children’s hospital or another needy cause to compensate to the amount for which I will have been sued for by these victims. I pray for them and their loved ones so that they may have a happy life.

    But he had written earlier that he had spent 30K for his criminal defence and had run out of money before he was incarcerated… And for that substantial inconsistency these documents aren’t worth the paper they were printed on according to me.

    The general tone of these documents; which contain several repetitions is: -Yeah I made mistakes; but in them good ol’days, it wasn’t as serious as it is today and if the cops and my superiors had done anything real about it, there would be less victims. But thanks to the victims this legal ordeal has helped me to become a new and better man.

  2. bc says:

    A translation of a text which appears at the heading of annex 2. The words Choisir de révéler / Choosing to disclose… to heal better appear in a half circle.

    quote
    I gave this title to this document, because it reflects what I’ve been living here for months. For nearly fifty years, I prefered to remain silent regarding my deviant behaviour towards these children. As I’m oponning my heart to people I trust, I am lifting a weight which prevented me from being myself and to know freedom and true happiness.

    It is a new man who is being born.

    end of quote

  3. bc says:

    An excerpt of a passage which follows Leçons ‘a tirer (i.e. lessons to be learned)
    quote
    All the charges against me fell into the same categories of sexual assault and/or gross indecency without any nuances. But you’ve got to admitt that kissing on the forehead or on the cheek of a child is not as consequential as what I’ve disclosed. My memory hasn’t failed me yet. I assure you that a good number of the charges against me today were not sex crimes per se when I comitted them. Justice 50 years ago was a whole lot more permissive and less coercive than it is now.
    end of quote

  4. bc says:

    Annex 2 page 9
    quote
    I wish to set the record straight regarding my assaults of 50 years ago. Contrary to certain accusations made against me, I have never kissed on the mouth any of the girls, nor have touched their breasts. I never looked at their genitals and I never asked any of them to look at my penis. I always found that repugnant, untill I had a brief affair with a consenting female. This passage to a loving relationship was a turning point in my emotional life.
    end of quote

  5. bc says:

    quote
    A favorable environment.
    I am convinced that the parish environment itself contributed to my crimes/torts. Being in contact constantly with women and mostly the status enjoyed by the clergy greatly contributed to my wanderings.
    end of quote

  6. bc says:

    plusieurs victimes ont préféré ne pas porter d’accusations
    Annex 2 p.8
    trans.
    many victims preferred to not file criminal complaints.

  7. bc says:

    From annex 2 p.10

    Une fausse note avant de quitter

    One wrong note before leaving

    A few days later, as I was getting ready to leave the parish, I heard that the girl guides would be having a sleep over in Saguenay in a community center. There were thirthy or so of them including their adult supervisors. In the middle of the evening, without having been invited, I decided to join them bring a sleeping bag and a few things. In the early morning, the girls started whispering. Without making any noise, I decided to go lie down with a gorgeous girl I had been dreaming of holding into my arms. As I was lying next to her, I touched her thigh while I had an erection. I ejaculated and soiled my pyjama. I said I was sorry and I went to the bathroom to clean myself up and change clothing. Some girls found out about what happenned and were shocked. Word quickly spread about what had happenned. I was ashamed. I had just ended a term of service in a parish which could have been perfect. This sad story shocked many young and continues to haunt me to this day. Providence was good as I wouldn’t be their priest anymore!

  8. bc says:

    amnexe 2 p12

    Back then the legal system which was much more forgiving, far from helping me and stopping my perverted ways allowed that the same sexual abuses repeat themselves.

    Important note.
    If these document are authentic, Father Harvey had striken out the words perverted to replace it with the word erratic. And he would have also stiken out the words sexual abuses to replace them with the words sexual gestures. His intention clearly was to minimize his criminal intent at the time he made these handwritten corrections.

  9. bc says:

    amnexe 2 p9
    I never understood how I could live a double life for more than twenty years without it being a stain on the quality of my ministry.

  10. bc says:

    amnexe 2 p3
    After a few weeks, having walked the streets and the neighbourhoods, I met a family that I had never forgotten; that of Daniel and Aline, a couple in their mid thirthies. They had a boy and three daughters; the youngest being Sylvie, a plump little girl seven or eight years old which caught my attention. I often visited them because I felt well welcomed there. Their house breathed happiness. I remember, I don’t recall how, having invited Sylvie to come and visit me at the rectory, if she wanted to. It was in late October. She rang the bell and whished that I openned the door. She had a big smile and smelled good as usual. The office where I met her had windows all around and unannounced people could see evertyhing. She sat in front of me, embarassed and I held her. At that time of the year she was wearing tights. I slid my left hand down her back, without going any further and I caressed her for a few minutes, all while being afraid of someone seeing us. She came back two or three times. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I was enjoying it like I had never enjoyed anything like it before.

  11. bc says:

    Just a quick comment on the documents per se.
    What you have here is incomplete Sylvia. These are annexes. The main body of the document is absent. Also note that annex 4 is incomplete as it ends in the middle of a sentence.

  12. bc says:

    amnexe 2 p4
    As my visits to Sylvie’s house increased, my affections for her grew and occupied my thoughts. Often, I would visit them in the early evening. I would have trouble going to sleep. I would imagine myself holding her in my arms and caressing her. My thoughts didn’t go beyond that, but it was too much it was crossing a forbidden zone. To violate this no-go area, all I had to do was to be alone with her… I didn’t try to get rid of my perverse thoughts, far from it. I nurtured these toughts, I became obsessed sexually. This little girl was central to all of my thoughts. At the risk of breaking my relationship with this family which I loved, I took advantage of her childish candor to invite her to come to visit me at my house. I guessed that in her childish mind she didn’t foresee anything wrong by coming to visit me. She came with a big smile on her face. When I was holding her, it was without precipitation and I was not molesting her. She seemed to enjoy what I was doing. At least itès what I alsways believed. And it’s surely for this reason why she came back two or three times to relive this experience.

    • bc says:

      Annexe2 p.5
      Each of these intimate encounters with her was for me a moment of extasy and sexual arousal. Only once do I remember, I had an erection while I was with her. I managed the situation so she wouldn’t notice it. Of course because of the thickness of my frock, I felt protected. I would have been embarassed if she had noticed it. I would also have been afraid that she speak to her parents about it

      ***
      translator’s comment:
      This paragraph follows the previous post. This whole part of Father Harvey’s documents was difficult to translate without betraying the meaning of his own words. The ellipsis (i.e. the 3 dots) – all I had to do was to be alone with her… – is disturbingly revealing in québécois french in the context of a sexual event. I can’t decide if Father Harvey was a) trying to communicate the notion that by the simple fact of being alone with Sylvie he had indeed already crossed the line; or b) that he had done more than just fantasized about Sylvie.

  13. bc says:

    Hi Sylvia,

    The last page of your annexe 4 re-posted begins with:
    No C.S. : 150-06-000008-151

    The previous page ends with On laissait

    On laissait means:-We left (as in we left it up to…)

    Annexe 4 as it appears here is incomplete.

  14. bc says:

    Annexe2 p.13

    Des impairs de mon évêque.

    Mistakes my Bishop made

    My relationships with Church superiors haven`t always been easy from the very beginning of my ministry untill this day. I believe that successive Bishops were transmitting information about my deviant past to each other and that it was factored in the appointments I received.

    I want to share with you some of the problems I`ve had with my current Bishop. They hurt me so much that I quit talking to him.

    On January 4th 2012, the scandal of the charges laid against me broke out and with it came all the publicity surrounding these charges. It was a true tsunamy, the community was in shock. Fortunately I got the support and sympathy of the residents where I was living. The following day, my Bishop contacted me to let me know he would be coming to visit. We talked for about an hour about the difficult times ahead for me. He told me that had set aside funds that could help pay part of my legal fees. That same evening, I was totally happy to announce this news to my sister and my brothers, because I had spent almost all of my pension fund.

    A few weeks later I met again with my Boshop. I was stunned to learn that he contradicted himself about helping me and that the diocese has not set aside funds to assist me with my legal bills. I was on my own. I never got over this kickback *

    Before we parted, I showed him a letter sent to my lawyer, a letter shich had been sent five or six years ago to my Bishop. It was written by a hospital employee where I had worked for nearly twenty years, in which she makes grave accusations, totally invented, concerning my conduct. The rumors had begun concerning me started when I showed up inappropriately at a funeral. I’ve got a feeling about it. Among other things she was accusing me of raping a a woman in her 30s as well as one of her friends. The author of the letter was lamenting that a Bishop would appoint as chaplin to a hospital a priest who like me had a checkered past.

    As soon as he got this letter, my Bishop should have called me to fact check the claims in the letter. He did no such thing, thus tacitely approving the letter. Although he apologized for his mistake and despite the fact that he told me that the letter had been forwarded to his assistant, the harm was done. Even if it`s getting harder and harder for me to communicate with my Bishop, I`ve learned to forgive him.

    * re: kickback
    Father Harvey used the wrong expression when he referred to retour d’ascenceur. Retour d’ascenceur means litterally to send the elevator back. it translates into: return the favor. He should have used another expression: such as:-my Bishop made a 180 degree turn.

  15. bc says:

    Annexe2 page 3
    I had just arrived in a working class community, at a time when priests were warmly welcomed everywhere. Il felt like a popular star seeing the children, especially girls, rush towards me in school yards and playgrounds. I didn`t have to go to them, they were coming to me spontaneously. I felt like a young buck, forgive me this saying, needing to be loved and with the heart of a teenager in an adult body.

  16. bc says:

    Annexe 2 p.3
    How I felt before the first sexual abuse event
    During the first three years of my training nothing happenned. After one year spent in a parish doing office work, doing pastoral visits and hearing confessions all year long, I was appointed to be a professor and supervisor at the Petit Séminaire. With boys I never had any misadventure. I liked this workplace, but I had emotional needs which weren`t being met. I loved children; I always longed for them. I envied men who had famillies when I would observe them cajoling and being tender with their kids. It made me doubt my vocation, but I didn`t dare leave fearing to dissapoint and to be considered a quitter. That`s how priests who left the orders were called.

  17. bc says:

    Annexe 3 combined files
    Justice in the 1960s and 1980s was different compared to that which have nowadays. It was easier back then to tolerate mistakes including those involving sexual abuse. What was then called sexual touching are nowadays labelled as sexual assaults and gross indecency. They are now considered to be criminal acts. Today, there`s no tolerance for it whereas back then, one was only cautionned about being more prudent. That`s what happenned in my case. I am certain that I would not have been a repeat offender had justice been more strict and more repressive.

    I recall observations of my bishop who would ask me to be more prudent in the future and to pray more, as if that could solve my problem. And what can one say about the warnings of four policement who were advising me to change my ways without following-up on the parent`s complaints. I would be reassigned elsewhere to put out the fire! Afer a few months in a new parish, I would occasionnally have the same problems.

  18. bc says:

    Annexe 4

    *the first two pages of annexe 4 are identical

    Madame Prosecutor

    I wish to inform you of the circumstances regarding the multiple charges of sexual assault over a period of twenty years, specifically between 1975 and 1985. I was a priest in many parishes in the Diocese of Chicoutimi. My victims were female minors.

    Right after the first infractions, my bishop called me to his office after a complaint had been filed. I told him about my problems et admitted to him my need to get help. He only recommended that I be more carefull around children and to pray more. So I left this meeting with my problem. Whenever he would receive another complaint, he would reassign me to another parish, thinking that it would resolve my emotional problems. It was to no avail. After a few days I would reoffend.

    One day, a girl who was one of the victims of my deviant behaviour came to the diocese with her parents to tell her story and file a complaint. She was greeted in an offhand way and my Bishop didn`t believe a single word she was saying and accused her of lying. She was nevertheless telling the truth.

    During this twenty five year period when the assaults were reoccuring in various settings, other figures of authorithy, among them four policement, contacted me after having received complaints.

    The first time was at the end of the year nineteen sixty five or in the beginning of nineteen sixty six, officer Hovington of the then municipality of Kénogami, met with me and reprimanded me after he had received a complaint. Once again, I got away with mere suggestions to be more prudent, without any consequence.

    A second time, officer Léo Lessard, of Jonquières also stepped in to reprimand me following a complaint he had received. He would also only warn me to be more carefull around children.

    In the fall of nineteen seventy eight, I was brought in for questionning by an officer in Alma in the Lac St-Jean area for a sexual abuse complaint. Once again I got away with it by being admonished and warned about being more cautious.

    One last time, in the early nineteen eighty`s a Québec Provincial Police officer questionned me in his office. He had received complaints regarding my deviant behavior involving girls. Just as was the case with all the other law enforcement officers, but for the warnings, I was sent back home with my problems and a fear of reoffending.

    I was left alone struggling without any consequence, but I should have been helped to not reoffend. I don`t have any grievances, back then justice did not consider this actions the same way it does today. We left*

    *the documnent is incomplete

  19. bc says:

    Annexe 2 p.4
    My unfulfilled needs and my grievances

    During my long years spent in residential schools among men, I missed my family. I suffered from the abscence of girls in my daily life. Holidays weren`t long enough to fullfill my emotional needs. I grew up in a prudish familly in which expressions of love and tenderness were suspicious. Even during the Christmas season, I felt embarassed to kiss my mother. I don`t recall having seen in our house pronographic books and magazines. If my brother looked at them, they were doing in secret without my knowledge. It was even rarer in places like the seminary which were all about vocations to the priesthood.

    During all my life, and untill I was twenty eight years old, I had no sexual experience, except for a few occasionnal ejaculations which embarassed me. I would hurry up to wash my sheets to erace any trace of this forbidden pleasure. I knew that some priests had mistresses, and I admired their guts in satisfying their sexual needs. I never talked about that with my loved ones or a spiritual adviser. I would suffer silently and would supress my unfulfiled needs since my childhood.

    I never was a voyeur, neither by watching TV or on the internet, much less when I was with people, especially children. I also never exibited myself sexually in front of someone else. I wasn’t a voyeur,but my thing was touching without fondling. That`s how I was in every instance with the young girls.

  20. bc says:

    Annexe 2 p.4
    My unfullfilled needs and my grievances

    During my long years spent in residential schools among men, I missed my family. I suffered from the abscence of girls in my daily life. Holidays weren`t long enough to fullfill my emotional needs. I grew up in a prudish familly in which expressions of love and tenderness were suspicious. Even during the Christmas season, I felt embarassed to kiss my mother. I don`t recall having seen in our house pronographic books and magazines. If my brother looked at them, they were doing in secret without my knowledge. It was even rarer in places like the seminary which were all about vocations to the priesthood.

    During all my life, and untill I was twenty eight years old, I had no sexual experience, except for a few occasionnal ejaculations which embarassed me. I would hurry up to wash my sheets to erace any trace of this forbidden pleasure. I knew that some priests had mistresses, and I admired their guts in satisfying their sexual needs. I never talked about that with my loved ones or a spiritual adviser. I would suffer silently and would supress my unfulfiled needs since my childhood.

    I never was a voyeur, neither by watching TV or on the internet, much less when I was with people, especially children. I also never exibited myself sexually in front of someone else. I wasn’t a voyeur,but my thing was touching without fondling. That`s how I was in every instance with the young girls.

    Annexe 2 p.7

    The legal proceedings
    The legal proceedings lasted four years. The list of plaintifs was growing every passing month. On a few occasions my lawyer appeared in court on my behalf to tell me each time that the proceeedings were
    rescheduled at a later date. For nearly three years I lived in virtual hiding in a retirement home for priests which was operated by nuns. It felt like I was living in a waiting room. In the summer of 1974* I decided to leave the area to be closer to one of my brothers and my sister in Montreal in an anonymous settings, sheltered from the gossip. I spent nine months at the Manoir Outrement where I did have a good time. At the end of June 2015 the owners of Manoir Outrement asked me to vacate the appartment to spend the rest of the summer at my sisters up untill my incarceration on septemeber eleventh of that same year.

    I had to appear in court on June 16th 2015 regarding a complaint from an adult, a complaint wich was dismissed as well on the day of my sentencing on September the 11th. During the hearing on June 16th a few plaintiffs came to make their victim impact statements. The Crown attorney fully exposed my guilt. It was humiliating and difficult for me to attend this spectacle, in reality it was a monologue, which ended in the late afternoon without my lawyer bothering to say anything or correct certain inaccuracies.

    The most difficult day was on September 11th. Justice Tardif was not kind with me. That`s when I became aware of the sirousness of my actions for so many years. As per the jurisprudence and at the recommendation of the crown attorney I was sentenced to a term of six years of incarceration assorted with a possibility of being paroled after two years. I could’nt believe my ears and I almost fainted while I was listenning to the verdict. Upon leaving the courthouse handcuffed and shackled, I was the victim of all kinds of insults. My life was taking a turn it had never taken before.

    The age and number of victims
    The girls I victimized were between the age of eitht and thirtheen years old. Most of them attended neighbourhood schools. That`s were I could mingle with them. I think that it would be too difficult to detail the assaults that I subjected each and every one of them to. In most cases, it would be cuting and pasting.

    I would meet them during annual parish visits. There were also visits at schools, Girl-Guide events, playgrounds. All places to spot potential victims. Most of the time

    • bc says:

      annexe2 p.5

      Twisted thoughts or cognitive distortions

      After each visit with her family or after having been with Sylvie in the school yard, I would go back home tormented and increasingly fascinated by this child. Far from chasing away these perverse thoughts that were inside my head, I nurtured them before going to sleep. I never thought of hurting her. I loved her too much to do that. Never did I approach her thinking about molesting her and making her sad. However I knew my behaviour was going to trouble her. I regret having wanted to satisfy my emotional needs at the risk of compromising her happiness. It is a memory for which I have been ashamed of for years and that will be engraved in my memory. These adventures with this child disturbed me more than the others because they openned the door to the subsequent abuses. I had crossed a step in my deviation which would last almost 25 years.

      Two different beings into one person
      I never could understand how I could manage such a double life for more than 25 years without it impacting the quality of my ministry. I get the impression that there were two different beings inside me. There was the pervert who was constantly looking for thrills. There was also a devoted priest who knew how to be appreciated and who gave all of himself to his mission.

      The first three years were eventless, one year spent in a parish followed by two years as a teacher at the seminary. I enjoyed these two years untill my superiors appointed my as pastor in a working class parish in the middle of the summer of 1965. Folks were warm and friendly and I felt welcomed as soon as I arrived. Circumstances were favoring me: their priest was a grumpy old man and he was difficult and the other priest was often away. We virtually never spoke. Most of the time, I was the one meeting people in the office.

      I used every possible opportunity to befriend folks, especially the young: parish activities, sports, school, talking a walk doen the street where I felt welcomed with open arms. Often, at the least opportunity, I would seek to create a rapport with families. That`s how, especially during summer months, that I spent my spare time and filled the whole of my solitude.

  21. bc says:

    Annexe 2 p.8

    annexe 2 p.8
    (…most of the time) I assaulted them in their own houses. I woud figure out when their parents weren`t home or when they were babysat by an older sister. That`s when I would show up unannounced. Without molesting her, I would aske her to sit on my lap, even if she was shy, especially during adolescence. For a few monents, I would touch their clothed genital area. Sometimes I put my hands inside their panties. I couldn`t resist the urge, even if I was convinced that the parents would find out what had happenned.

    During a girl guide camp, I showed up early in the morning before the girls had dressed. I put my hand of the thye of one of them. Another time, druing evening games where we were singing around the campfire, I touched the thye of the girl sitting next to me, for a few seconds. I figured out from her reaction that she did not enjoy it. Everytime, I`d come back home sadenned and humiliated by what had happenned.

    Consequences for the victims

    It`s hard to say what were the consequences for the victims, it varies from one individual to another. Without a doubt it must have occured that one apparently harmless gesture would traumatize one more than another. A hug or a small kiss on the cheek could potentially harm someone, depending on the context of the gesture.

    After having read some depositions and after hearing some plaintiffs during the trial, I now know that most were traumatized for life. These are things that one may not easily forget. One day or another it resurfaces and haunts you.

    I suppose that some accused me and exagerated what I had done. With the passage of time, as much as for them as for myself, one`s memory faulters. On the other hand, many victims prefered not to file complaints. That`s why on the June 16th hearing, I spoke, I turned to face those in the courtroom and in tears I publicly asked to be forgiven by those who were in attendance and by all the other ones I had gravely harmed.

    As for me, my life has changed entirely, the figure I was for more than fifty years does not exist anymore. I didn`t only make mistakes during my life, I did beautiful things. It`s unfortunate, for me and my loved ones, that my past mistakes have tarnished a life which could have been better and would have left behind a legacy of better memories. All I can do now is to serve my sentence and hope for a better tomorrow.

  22. bc says:

    annexe 2 p.8
    (…most of the time) I assaulted them in their own houses. I woud figure out when their parents weren`t home or when they were babysat by an older sister. That`s when I would show up unannounced. Without molesting her, I would aske her to sit on my lap, even if she was shy, especially during adolescence. For a few monents, I would touch their clothed genital area. Sometimes I put my hands inside their panties. I couldn`t resist the urge, even if I was convinced that the parents would find out what had happenned.

    During a girl guide camp, I showed up early in the morning before the girls had dressed. I put my hand of the thye of one of them. Another time, druing evening games where we were singing around the campfire, I touched the thye of the girl sitting next to me, for a few seconds. I figured out from her reaction that she did not enjoy it. Everytime, I`d come back home sadenned and humiliated by what had happenned.

    Consequences for the victims

    It`s hard to say what were the consequences for the victims, it varies from one individual to another. Without a doubt it must have occured that one apparently harmless gesture would traumatize one more than another. A hug or a small kiss on the cheek could potentially harm someone, depending on the context of the gesture.

    After having read some depositions and after hearing some plaintiffs during the trial, I now know that most were traumatized for life. These are things that one may not easily forget. One day or another it resurfaces and haunts you.

    I suppose that some accused me and exagerated what I had done. With the passage of time, as much as for them as for myself, one`s memory faulters. On the other hand, many victims prefered not to file complaints. That`s why on the June 16th hearing, I spoke, I turned to face those in the courtroom and in tears I publicly asked to be forgiven by those who were in attendance and by all the other ones I had gravely harmed.

    As for me, my life has changed entirely, the figure I was for more than fifty years does not exist anymore. I didn`t only make mistakes during my life, I did beautiful things. It`s unfortunate, for me and my loved ones, that my past mistakes have tarnished a life which could have been better and would have left behind a legacy of better memories. All I can do now is to serve my sentence and hope for a better tomorrow.

  23. bc says:

    Annexe 2 p.14

    Towards a new future
    I don`t know what tomorrow has in store for me, but I get the impression that the future is promising and that the sun sill shine again. There is no age to continue to dream. These last months spent in detention have provided me with all the time I needed to reconsider my whole life. this work isn`t finished but I have done a lot to heal. Despite a few misteps (sic!), I concede that I am in the hands of trusted and qualified professionals who will stand by my side and advise me upon my upcoming release.

    I want to thank in advance all those people that shall be with me in this liberation process, especially my parole officer and my lawyer.

    Much alike the small caterpillar who takes it`s time to change itself and fly away, I too am benefitting from all the time I have to transform myself from the inside before being released into the community. Already, I am not the same man, I have a maturity that I never had before. This maturity and this new outlook on things will allow me to better appreciate life and to enjoy happiness on a daily basis.

    Despite the ordeal I had to endure, I never lost hope. I feel the support of my family and of many friends (male and female) who stayed in touch with me. I have a profound faith a faith I`ve had since my chidhood. If God takes care of little birds, he`ll surely know how to care for the exiled that I am. I know that I am still important in his eyes.

    Upon my considtional release, I intend to make a substantial gift to a children`s hospital or to a charity in need proportionally to the amount of damages for the multiple assaults in the past. I continue to pray for all the victims and their loved ones so that life can smile back to them once again.

    Document completed on March 6th 2017 at the Montée St-François to be handed over to my parole officer and my lawyer.

  24. bc says:

    * the reference to a date of 1974 on p.14 of annexe 2 makes no sense.

  25. bc says:

    annexe2 p.5

    Twisted thoughts or cognitive distortions

    After each visit with her family or after having been with Sylvie in the school yard, I would go back home tormented and increasingly fascinated by this child. Far from chasing away these perverse thoughts that were inside my head, I nurtured them before going to sleep. I never thought of hurting her. I loved her too much to do that. Never did I approach her thinking about molesting her and making her sad. However I knew my behaviour was going to trouble her. I regret having wanted to satisfy my emotional needs at the risk of compromising her happiness. It is a memory for which I have been ashamed of for years and that will be engraved in my memory. These adventures with this child disturbed me more than the others because they openned the door to the subsequent abuses. I had crossed a step in my deviation which would last almost 25 years.

  26. bc says:

    Just a quick note for those who’ll be reading this translation in English: a)I`m not a translator b)for various technical reasons; it was difficult for me to understand the original french version c)the original itself is badly written d)there are inconsistencies within the original and e)I did not enjoy doing this.
    f)did I say I didn’t enjoy doing this?

    Father Harvey`s descriptions of the goodness of les Bleuets-es (residents of this area indeed proudly refer to themselves as Bleuets-es i.e. blueberries) was accurate. And so that he assaulted so many little girls in that geographic area of Québec is particularly sad for the french Canadian guy that I am. Each and every case of clerical abuse is unique in it’s own way. But it is the same failed, sneaky, wretched, vain and careless institution which is enabling them. I say enabling them in the present tense because Sylvia is correct: there is no such thing as historical clerical abuse. The Diocese of Chicoutimi, by virtue of the fact that it is litigating with the survivors of Father Harvey is perpetuating Father Harvey’s crimes by other means. Le Diocese de Chicoutimi a les mains sales. i.e. The hands of the Diocese of Chicoutimi are filthy.
    If any priest in the Diocese of Chicoutimi had any balls whatsoever; he should speak.
    Christ had a pair. Of course, he had doubts. Of course he was afraid. Oh it must have been somethin’ else… you’re totally innocent, the juge said it after all, but they’re gonna crucify you anyway… Testify. Be good witnesses. Have the decency to be crucified next to these women. Lose the consideration of Bishop André Rivest. Put it all on the line; your pensions, your benefits, your confortable lifestyles. Because after this case is either settled and/or adjudicated, it’s gonna be too late.

    And there’ll be hell to pay.

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