Barry: Brother Gerard Kevin Barry

“Stumps”

American born Christian Brother.  1998 CONVICTED for sex abuse of boy at Mount Cashel Orphanage – sentenced to three years.    January 2001: appeal of conviction and sentence dismissed

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Archbishops of St. John’s Newfoundland while Brother Barry was in the archdiocese:  Edward Patrick Roche  (26 February 1915 –  23 September 1950); Patrick James Skinner (January 1951-April 1979)

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25 January 2001:  Gerard Kevin Barry v Her Majesty the Queen (Reasons for Judgment  – Newfoundland Court of Appeal – appeal of conviction and sentence denied)

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The following information is drawn from media (M), St. Bonaventure College yearbook, The Adelphian (A)  and legal documents (L)

September 2000:  appeal of conviction dismissed.  Leave to appeal on the sentence granted and the appeal dismissed (L)

21 August 1998:  sentenced to 3 year (M)

07 July 1998:  convicted on one court of gross indecency and three of indecent assault.  Acquitted on one count of gross indecency (L)

age 70 at trial (M)

1996:  living in Burlingotn, Ontario when charges were laid

1964-1993:  after leaving the Christian Brothers taught at schools in Nova Scotia and Ontario where he held positions as either Principal or Vice Principal (L)

1993:  retired (L)

1959-1964:  still with the Christian Brothers teaching in Montreal and Victoria, British Columbia (L)

September 1953-June 1959:  Mount Cashel Orphanage, St. John’s, Newfoundland (L)

one of his duties was laundry (L)

1954-1959:  sexually molesting a boy at Mount Cashel.  The abuse transpired in the orphanage canteen, the dorm and at the Moutn Cashel raffle site in downtown St. John’s  (L)

1957:  a visiting Christian brother expressed concern that Barry was not
spending more time with his colleagues. “Brother Kevin Barry is with the
boys too much…He is eating meals with the boys and is away from the community entirely too much. He has promised to change the arrangement so he has more time
with the brothers.” (M)

1948-1953:  faculty of St. Bonaventure College (St. Bon’s), St. John’s Newfoundland (L)

1951:   faculty of St. Bonaventure College (St. Bon’s), St. John’s Newfoundland (A)

also on staff and in group photo of faculty are Brothers Ronald Justin Lasik and John Evangelist Murphy.  Both Lasik and Murphy were, like Barry, later charged and convicted for the sex abuse of boys at Mount Cashel Orphanage

1950:  faculty of St. Bonaventure College, St. John’s Newfoundland (A)

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Ex-Christian Brother jailed

Toronto Globe and Mail

Saturday, August 22, 1998

ST. JOHN’S — A former Christian Brother has been sentenced to three years in jail for sex-related crimes.

Gerard Kevin Barry, 70, was convicted on a charge of gross indecency and three of indecent assault. The sentence was handed down yesterday in Newfoundland Supreme Court.

Mr. Barry is one of several Christian Brothers accused of sexual assault involving boys at the Mount Cashel orphanage in the 1950s and early 1960s.

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Ex Christian Brother Appeals Conviction

St. John’s Evening Telegram

19 August 1998

By BONNIE BELEC The St. John’s Nfld. Evening Telegram

The guilty verdict in the case of a former Christian Brother convicted of
four counts of sexual assault was unreasonable, states the appeal filed by
Gerard Kevin Barry. It was unreasonable and unsafe taking into account all
of the evidence, the document claims.

Barry, 70, who was sentenced to three years in jail for the offences, has
filed documents to appeal the conviction as well as the sentence. Barry, a
resident of Burlington, Ont., was charged with two counts of gross
indecency and three counts of indecent assault in 1996 following an
investigation by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. He was acquitted of
one count of gross indecency.

The assaults were committed against a resident of Mount Cashel Orphanage
when he was a young boy. They occurred between 1954 and 1959 when the
complainant was between 12 and 17 years old. Barry is one of seven men
charged with more than 50 counts of assault against 17 complainants who
were boys at the orphanage from 1950 to 1964.

The notice of appeal states the sentence was excessive with respect to the
nature of the offences and the circumstances of the accused.

“The learned trial judge did not consider any of the individual factors of
the appellant in his sentencing decision,” the appeal reads. It claims
Justice Robert Wells placed too much emphasis on the principles of
deterrence and denunciation and gave no weight to the principle of
rehabilitation. The document also states that Wells allowed Crown counsel
to ask Barry if he was aware of any reason why the complainant would be
motivated to fabricate the complaint and then referred to a lack of motive
in his reasons for judgment, shifting the onus to Barry to disprove the
allegations. The statement further claims Wells misapplied the standard of
proof beyond a reasonable doubt by using improper factors in assessing the
credibility of the complainant and thereby boosted his credibility.

It states that Wells also used a higher standard when assessing the
credibility of Barry, he did not deal with unchallenged evidence that
clearly contradicted the evidence of the complainant, and he did not deal
with any of the inconsistencies between the evidence of the complainant at
trial as compared with his prior statements.

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Mount Cashel ex-brother guilty

The Edmonton Journal

08 July 1998

Former Christian Brother Gerard Kevin Barry was found guilty Tuesday of four counts of sexual assault against a former resident at the Mount Cashel orphanage more than 40 years ago.

Supreme Court Justice Robert Wells acquitted the 70-year-old of one count of gross indecency.

Barry, who lives in Burlington, Ont., was charged with two counts of gross indecency and three charges of indecent assault in 1996.

He is a former member of the Christian Brothers lay order that ran the now-closed home. He is charged with abusing one youth between 1954 and 1959, when the resident would have been between 12 and 17 years old.

Barry was one of seven men faced with 59 charges of physical and sexual assault for incidents involving 17 former residents that allegedly occurred between 1950 and 1964.

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Former orphan tells of abuse

http://www.nospank.net/n-c84.htm

Canadian Press

03  June 1998

ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. (CP) _ A 55-year-old man who claims he was sexually assaulted as a boy at the Mount Cashel orphanage said Tuesday he forgives his alleged abuser. “I have no hatred for him,” the man testified at the trial of Gerard Kevin Barry, a former Christian Brother.

“I hate what he did to me, but I forgive him. I wish he would open up and tell so he could get on with his life.” Barry, 70, of Burlington, Ont., is facing five counts of sexual assault against the man who cannot be identified.

The complainant took the stand during the second day of Barry’s Newfoundland Supreme Court trial. The retired music teacher broke down the minute he stepped in the witness box. He told Justice Robert Wells he has no trouble remembering the incidents, which are alleged to have occurred in the 1950s. He said Barry’s favorite place to commit the acts was in the orphanage canteen.

“I remember the shape of his lips,” he testified. “I’ll never forget the times he used to kiss me in the canteen. “I don’t know if he knows me, but I know him,” he said looking directly at the accused. The complainant said the sexual abuse mostly occurred during laundry time at the former boy’s home in St. John’s. He said Barry would tell him to take a laundry basket and wait for him in the canteen.

“I’d wait in the dark and later on he’d come in and shut the door. He’d put his arms around me, hold me close and kiss me, put his tongue in my mouth. I didn’t know about homosexuality, or pedophlia. I knew I liked girls and this was dirty, this was wrong, this was shameful. “He’d turn me around and take my pants down and he’d have his penis out and put it between my legs,” the man continued. “All I could think was how I was going to get absolution.”

The complainant told of other incidents where he said Barry fondled his genitals in the dormitory and elsewhere. The offences against Barry are alleged to have occurred between 1954 and 1959, when the complainant would have been between 12 and 17 years old.

He is one of seven men charged with more than 50 counts of assault against 17 complainants who were boys at the orphanage during the period from 1950 to 1964.

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Nfld.: First trial begins in new round of Cashel cases

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/csocwork/message/366

Canadian Press

02 June 1998

MICHELLE MACAFEE

ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. (CP) – Faded memories and scant records will likely be
the determining factors in a trial that began Monday for the first of seven
men charged with sexually abusing boys 45 years ago at the troubled Mount
Cashel orphanage. Gerard Kevin Barry, 70, of Burlington, Ont., was in
Newfoundland Supreme Court to face two charges of gross indecency and three
of indecent assault. Barry, a member of the Christian Brothers lay order
that ran the now-closed home, allegedly abused one young boy between 1954
and 1959 when the resident would have been between 12 and 17 years old.

The trial is the first resulting from a new wave of abuse charges that were
laid in 1996. The seven men face a total of 59 charges of physical and
sexual assault for incidents involving 17 former residents that allegedly
occurred between 1950 and 1964. Nine brothers have already been convicted
of abusing boys in their care during the 1970s. Crown prosecutor John
Brooks spent much of Monday questioning Sgt. Mark Wall of the Royal
Newfoundland Constabulary to establish that both Barry and the complainant,
who can not be identified, were at Mount Cashel during the same period.
During his testimony, Wall referred to classroom records, yellowed log
books of residents and diaries of notable events. One of the few detailed
references to Barry, whose nickname was Stumps, was contained in a
visitation record, a sort of professional assessment of the brothers
conducted by a visiting Christian Brother from another location. In his
report of 1957, the visiting brother expressed concern that Barry was not
spending more time with his colleagues. “Brother Kevin Barry is with the
boys too much,” Wall said in reading from the report. “He is eating meals
with the boys and is away from the community entirely too much. He has
promised to change the arrangement so he has more time
with the brothers.”

When giving a statement to Wall and another officer in 1995, the victim
singled out an old photo of Barry from an album of 400 Christian Brothers
and priests compiled by Wall. Wall recounted a brief conversation between
himself and Barry shortly after the police laid charges against him in
November 1996. “He said, ’It was so long ago, I can’t remember anything
from back then,’ ” Wall testified.

During cross-examination, defence lawyer David Eaton sought specifics from
Wall as to how many brothers, residents and employees he had interviewed
during his investigation. Of the 14 brothers who worked at Mount Cashel
between 1953 and 1958, five are dead, five others, including Barry, are
facing charges, three could not be located and another was interviewed,
said Wall. Outside the courtroom, Eaton said time is a critical element to
both his and the Crown’s case.

“You can only go on the records that you have, which are scanty, and the
memory of the people that are available to come forward, and that’s
scanty,” said Eaton.

“Essentially it’s looking like it’s going to come down to the word of one
person against the word of another.” All but one of the accused in these
newest cases were Christian Brothers. The other was an employee of the
orphanage. Four of the accused now live in the United States. Two have come
forward and are scheduled to stand trial later this year. Another was
arrested last month by U.S. marshals and a judge there was to determine
this week whether he could be extradited to Canada to stand trial. Police
are still trying to extradite another man. ©
The Canadian Press, 1998

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Arrest of police chief’s son sought in orphanage abuse case

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

11 December 1996

ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. (CP) — An arrest warrant was issued today for the son of a former St. John’s police chief, one of seven men charged with abusing boys at the Mount Cashel orphanage from 1950 to 1964.

Judge John Rorke ordered the arrest after John Lawlor, 59, of Montreal, failed to show up for his first appearance in provincial court.

Lawlor is charged with one count of indecent assault that occurred between 1961 and 1963.

Lawlor is the son of former police chief John Lawlor, who was in charge of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in 1975 when an investigation into the first complaints of abuse was halted.

Two other men appeared in court but did not enter pleas.

Francis Clancy, 70, of St. John’s, is charged with two counts of indecent assault against two former residents.

Clancy, the only accused who was not a member of the Christian Brother Roman Catholic lay order that ran the orphanage, is to appear in court Jan. 16.

Gerard Kevin Barry, 69, of Burlington, Ont., is charged with three counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency against the same individual from 1955 to 1959.

Barry’s case has been postponed until Dec. 20.

Both Clancy and Barry hurried out of the courtroom without talking to reporters.

Four other former and current Christian Brothers who face numerous charges now live in the United States. Justice officials have started extradition proceedings to bring them back to Canada but court dates have not been set.

Police laid a total of 59 charges last month following a seven- year investigation sparked by other allegations of abuse that resurfaced in 1989.

Nine members of the Christian Brothers have already been convicted of physically and sexually abusing boys in their care during the 1970s.

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Seven more men charged with abusing orphans

Kingston Whig-Standard

20 November 1996

What many hope will be the final chapter in the history of the Mount Cashel orphanage began yesterday when another seven people were charged with abusing boys in their care.

The seven men face a total of 59 charges of physical and sexual assault for incidents that allegedly occurred between 1950 and 1964, said Insp. Des Peddle of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

The charges involve 17 former residents, but Peddle said more than 100 people came forward during the seven-year investigation.

Nine members of the Christian Brothers have been convicted of physically and sexually abusing boys in their care during the 1970s.

Peddle said he believes this is the end of the police department’s role in what has been an exhaustive and often heart- wrenching process.

The case has now been turned over to the provincial and federal justice departments. The investigation has been complicated because four of the accused now live in the United States and must be extradited. The three Canadian residents are scheduled to appear in court Dec. 10.

Gerard Kevin Barry, 69, of Ontario; Joseph Christopher (Anthony) Kernan, 66, of New York State; Thomas Cuthbert Ford, 62, of New Jersey; John Evangelist (Thomas) Murphy, 62, of New York State; Ronald Justin Lasik, 65, of Arizona; John Lawlor, 59, of Quebec; and Francis Clancy, 70, of St. John’s, face charges ranging from indecent assault to buggery.

All of the men, with the exception of Clancy, were Christian Brothers. Peddle would not reveal Clancy’s relationship with the alleged victims.