Sudbury Star
09 June 2011
A former principal and teacher at St. Charles College was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to 17 counts of indecent assault.
Rev. William Hodgson Marshall, 88, was also placed on probation for three years following his release and ordered to report to police to be registered on the national sex offender registry for 20 years, the Windsor Star reported on its website.
Marshall assaulted 17 victims in the Sudbury, Toronto and Windsor areas in incidents dating back to 1953.
“Whatever sentence I impose will not make up for what happened,” Ontario Court Justice Lloyd Dean told Marshall.
But the judge added he hoped the sentence will provide the victims and their families “some measure of healing,” the Windsor newspaper said.
Most of the retired priest’s victims were students at all-boys’ high schools run by the Congregation of St. Basil, a Roman Catholic order of teaching priests. The Basilian fathers operated St. Charles when it was an all-boys school.
Last fall, Greater Sudbury Police charged Marshall with six counts of gross indecency and six counts of indecent assault related to the Sudbury victims. The Sudbury charges were transferred to Windsor in April.
Marshall was first charged in May 2010 with one count of sexual assault related to alleged incidents in Windsor in the early 1980s.
In the ensuing months, 15 more men and one woman from cities where Marshall was assigned during his five decades as an active priest came forward to say he had assault them, too.
One of the alleged Sudbury victims is Ted Holland. Holland says Marshall sexually assaulted him on three occasions in 1969.
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Comments
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40 years ago this guy was known as ‘happy hands ‘.to say the wheels of justice turn slowly is an understatement .
I went to St Charles when he was there. We all suspected him. The rule was never be alone with the guy. Always make sure one of your buddies was there so he wouln’t try something. Thats how things were done 40 years ago & thats why he got away with it for so long. Now I think of the lives he destroyed & the tragedy of it all. He will rot in hell for what he did.
Ted Holland is no longer an “alleged” vcitim. Hod Marshall entered a guilty plea. Ted Holland now has the dubious distinction of being a real victim. Ted fought hard to see Hod charged and held accountable. Irealize there are great concerns regarding legalities and victims, but when there is a guilty plea surely we can give the victims the one small honour which is their due.
Fact: Ted Holland was sexually molested by a Basilian priest, William Hodgson Marshall csb
Fact: Ted Holland is a victim
I was molested by Marshall in 1951 in that little room opposite the gym at St Mikes. I would bet there were dozen of others as well. Although I never told anyone I did mention it to a classmate 20 years ago and the same thing happened to him. Its to bad Marshall wasn’t jailed years ago. His brother attended St Mikes at the same time as a student.
I am sorry to hear that Hod got his dirty hands on you too Paul. And on your friend. My goodness, how many victims are out there? From what I heard last Wednesday and Thursday virtually everyone knows another few. And I heard too that, in addition to the boys who were molested there are a number of females who were either sexually assaulted as women, or sexually abused as children who did not want to come forward.
Question Paul: When you say “his brother attended St. Mike’s at the same time” do you mean Hod’s brother? Did Hod have a younger brother attending SMCHS while Hod was teaching?
It was father marshalls brother. His name was David and he was in Grade 13. He was from Westmount,Montreal Quebec.
Does anyone know where marshall will serve his time?
fixer1970: Hod was bound for Kingston. The word I have is that once in Kingston he will be assessed. After assessment he will be off to Millhaven.
Does anyone have anything more definitive?
Whether or not he is in Kingston yet is unknown. I know from Perry Dunlop’s time behind bars that Hod could be still be sitting in the detention Centre in Toronto awaiting a full van load to head to Kingston. It can take days. I also know that correctional services keep the timing of such movement very close to their chests.
Does anyone know if Hod has been moved to Kingston yet?
Final note. The Toronto Detention Centre is not a great place to be. That’s probably where Hod was held pending relaction to Kingston. If that’s where Hod has been since Thursday he will be very anxious to get out of there.
Paul: I have been told that Hod attended a Montreal school operated by the Christian Brothers. My conatact thinks the school was called D’Arcy McGee. I have searched online and find that there was a D’Arcy McGee Catholic High School in the heart of Montreal. I can’t find a lot of info but enough to see that it was run by the Christian Brothers for some period time. It looks as though that may be it? (the school closed in 1992)