MacLean: Father Cameron MacLean

Cameron J. MacLean

Priest, Diocese of London Ontario.  Ordained 1969.  In 1981 Bishop Sherlock was advised that MacLean was molesting.  MacLean was relieved of his duties for a spell but was then reinstated.

GUILTY in 2000 to sex abuse of eight boys in the 70s and 80s. Had initially entered  guilty plea to charges from four victims – more victims came forward and defence lawyer Andrew Bradie had the guilty pleas withdrawn and a new trial ordered.  There was one charge of buggery from the first victim to come forward in the late 90s– that charges had disappeared by the time the MacLean charges were finally settled. Sentenced to two-years-less- a- day.  (Andrew Bradie also represented Father William Hodgson Marshall)

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Bishops of London Diocese from time of Father MacLeans’s ordination to present: Gerald Emmett Carter  (17 February 1964 – 29 April 1978 -Appointed, Archbishop of Toronto, Ontario)   John Michael Sherlock (7 July 1978 – 27 April 2002 ); Ronald Peter Fabbro, C.S.B. (27 Apr 2002 – – )

Auxiliary Bishops: John Michael Sherlock (25 June 1974 — Bishop: 7 Jul 1978); Marcel André J. Gervais (19 Apr 1980 – 3 May 1985); Frederick Bernard Henry (18 April 1986 -24 Mar 1995);  Richard John Grecco (5 December 1997 – 27 April 2002); Robert Anthony Daniels ( 21 September 2004 to 1 March 2011) \

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28 June 2018:  Accused priests. Millions in quiet payouts. And it was all kept on a list

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The following dates and information are drawn from information which is available to me in the Canadian Catholic Directories (CCCD) of that date, the 1980 Ontario Catholic Directory (OCD) and media (M) 

2017, 2016. 2015, 2014, 2013. 2012, 2011, 2010, 2002, 2000, 1999:  address for Diocesan Centre, London, Ontario  (CCCD)

October 2000: GUILTY plea to sex abuse of eight boys in the ’70s and ’80s (M)

June 2000:  Sentencing remanded pending Supreme Court decision ruled on the “’propriety’ of new laws that give judges the power to grant conditional sentences to be served in the community.” (M)

April 1999: Waived his right to a preliminary hearing.  Committed to stand trial on three charges each of Indecent assault and buggery (M)

October 1998:  More charges – three counts of indecent assault and three of buggery (M)

August 1998:  Arraigned on another charge of indecent assault of a boy in the early ’80s (M)

July 1998:  GUILTY plea to sex abuse of four boys (M)

1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991:  Pastor. St. Theresa RC Church, Windsor, Ontario (CCCD)

17 October 1997:  Relived of duties at St. Theresa shortly b3efore first sex abuse charge was laid (M)

1981-1985:  Pastor, Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church, London, Ontario

 

 

 

 

 

 

1981: Bishop Sherlock was told that MacLean was molesting young boys.  Nothing was done. MacLean continued to serve as a priest in the Diocese of London.  (according to media reports he was initially relieved of his duties but was then reinstated)

1980:  St. John the Divine Roman Catholic Church, London, Ontario with Father J. Boyde (OCD)

Sometime in the 70s was serving in London, Ontario (M)

1973-74:  Index lists address only as “Diocese of London.”  (CCCD)

Listed as member of the Liturgical Commission. Other clergy on the commission::

Rev. J.B. O’Donnell, Chrm.

Rev. B.D. Glendinning, Vice Chrm.(later convicted)

P.E. Cavanagh

J.L. Doyle (Installed as Bishop of Peterborough, Ontario 1976)

E. P. Larocque (formerly Dean of Christ the King College.  Installed as Bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria, Ontario in 1974)

S.E. McGuire

W.P. McKenna

J.M. Michon

M.J. O’Brien

T.J. O’Flaherty

1972-72: Blessed Sacrament, Windsor, Ontario (Pastor Father T.J. Lever) (CCCD)

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Disgraced priest jailed; Victims say Cameron MacLean was someone they trusted

The Windsor Star

08 February 2001

Ellen van Wageningen,  Star Justice Reporter

A 57-year-old priest left a Windsor court Wednesday to begin serving a two-year penitentiary sentence for sexually abusing eight boys who were members of his former parishes.

Cameron MacLean’s sombre expression remained unchanged as Superior Court Justice Carl Zalev said not even the strictest terms of house arrest would provide the proper denunciation. MacLean “preyed on young and vulnerable boys who looked up to him for spiritual guidance,” the judge said.

The sexual assaults on boys aged 10 to 16 years old took place between 1969 and 1985, while MacLean was a parish priest in Windsor and London.

Three of the victims sat in the front row of the small courtroom’s crowded public gallery Wednesday. Also in court were family members of other victims and several friends of MacLean, including three local priests.

When MacLean stood to speak before sentencing, laryngitis prevented him from whispering more than: “I’d like to apologize.”

His lawyer andrew Bradie, said MacLean wanted to say he is sorry to the victims and “hopes his guilty plea in this matter has helped alleviate their pain.”

MacLean pleaded guilty to nine charges of sexual assault for incidents that involved everything from touching the victims’ genitals to anal intercourse.

“The victims are not to blame for their years of silence,” Zalev said. “Who could they expect to believe them, given their age and the position of the accused?”

“I think the judge said it: Who’s going to believe you?” one of the victims, now 30, said outside court. “This is who you go and tell your sins to, not who sins. He’s in a position of the utmost trust in the community and he failed miserably in that.”

The man, who was an altar boy when MacLean assaulted him, said he finally went to police after hearing MacLean had been charged in 1997. He has turned his back on the church and will never allow his young son to be an altar boy, he said.

“I want to put closure to this thing and get on with my life and this is part of it,” said another victim, 35. He was between 12 and 14 years old when MacLean had anal intercourse and engaged in mutual masturbation with him during out-of-town trips to London and Toronto.

The man said it has taken him years to pull himself out of a world of drugs and alcohol in which he hid from the confusion and despair he felt. He credits his wife and the Pentecostal Church he now belongs to with bringing him back from the brink of suicide.

“I don’t think (MacLean has) taken full responsibility,” said a third victim, 40. “It’s only now that there have been court proceedings that he’s been willing to accept treatment. To me that says a lot.”

At least five of the victims are suing MacLean and the Roman Catholic Church.

Rev. Tony Daniels, vicar general for the Diocese of London, said they are among several lawsuits regarding alleged sexual misconduct by MacLean which lawyers for the church are trying to settle.

The sexual assaults for which MacLean was convicted “should never have happened and we really are very, very sorry,” he said.

A complaint of sexual misconduct about MacLean in 1985 resulted in the church sending him to an alcohol treatment centre in Michigan. He was allowed to go back to being parish priest after those treating him said “he would not reoffend and to the best of our knowledge he has not,” Daniels said.

MacLean, who can no longer be priest, was removed from St. Therese Church in Windsor when the first criminal charge was laid in 1997.

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Excerpt from The Good Father:  Timeline: Father Sylvester

CBC – Fifth Estate  http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/goodfather/timeline.html 

February, 2001: Father Cameron MacLean is sentenced to two years less a day after pleading guilty to indecent assault and sexual assault of young boys. 

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 Priest guilty in sex case; Crown will seek jail time for assaults on nine victims by former counsellor

The Windsor Star

31 October 2000

Ellen van Wageningen Star Justice Reporter

A 57-year-old Roman Catholic priest, who once counselled troubled youths, is to be sentenced in January after pleading guilty to sexually abusing eight boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

Cameron J. MacLean left a Windsor court Monday with the possibility he could go to jail hanging over his head.

He originally pleaded guilty two years ago to charges involving four of the boys, but the case dragged on as new victims came forward and additional charges were laid.

As a result, his lawyer andrew Bradie, asked that the original guilty pleas be withdrawn and all the charges were put before Superior Court Justice Carl Zalev on Monday.

MacLean pleaded guilty to nine charges of sexual assault. He assaulted three of the victims in Windsor and five in London.

The assaults took place between 1969 and 1984, during which time MacLean was a priest at parishes in both cities.

Jail time sought

Assistant Crown attorney Randy Semeniuk said he will be asking at a Jan. 17 sentencing hearing that Zalev send MacLean to jail for at least two years.

The amount of time that has passed since the assaults is “a factor the judge will take into consideration,” he said outside court.

“But the flip side of that is you’ll hear from the victims about the profound effect it’s had on their lives.”

Bradie said he will present evidence at the sentencing hearing that MacLean is no longer a danger and recommend he serve his time in the community under court conditions.

“The problem with these cases is you’re sentencing a different person than committed the offences,” he said. MacLean was relieved of his most recent pastoral duties, at St. Therese parish in Windsor, in October 1997 — just before the first criminal charges were laid.

He has since been living in a Strathroy home owned by the Diocese of London.

The grey-haired, lanky priest, who came to court wearing a grey suede jacket, sat in the box for the accused looking straight ahead as Semeniuk described how MacLean abused his victims. They are all grown men now, but were between 10 and 15 years old when they were befriended and sexually assaulted by the then youthful priest, who drove what the one victim described as a “cool car.” Three of them were altar boys and all got to know MacLean through his duties as a priest.

Overnight outings

One victim was between 12 and 14 years old when his parents allowed MacLean to take him on overnight outings to London, Toronto and camping. After sexually abusing the boy, MacLean took him out to eat at nice restaurants, to the Toronto Zoo and Story Book Gardens in London.

The most recent victim was an altar boy at Blessed Sacrament Parish, where MacLean was a priest in the early 1980s. The earliest victim was an altar boy at Most Precious Blood Church in Windsor. The victims cannot be identified because of a court order.

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Priest’s sentencing on hold; Supreme Court decision could grant right to serve time in community

The Windsor Star

03 June 2000

Don Lajoie Star Staff Reporter

The sentencing of a Roman Catholic priest who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children in Windsor during the 1970s has been remanded to await a Supreme Court decision that may affect his bid to avoid jail time.

Andrew Bradie, defence lawyer for 56-year-old Cameron J. MacLean, asked Ontario Court Justice Samuel Zaltz Wednesday to put the sentencing hearing over until the Supreme Court of Canada rules on the “propriety” of new laws that give judges the power to grant conditional sentences to be served in the community.

During a brief court appearance, Bradie told Zaltz that defence and the Crown jointly requested the delay “until the Supreme Court makes a decision which may be of assistance to this court in passing sentence.” Zaltz set the case aside until June 23, when counsel may make further submissions.

Outside the courtroom, Bradie said he will be asking for a conditional sentence for his client, allowing MacLean to serve time in the community rather than behind bars.

“Parliament has determined that, for sentences of two years less a day and if there is no danger to the community, (offenders) may be entitled to conditional sentences,” said Bradie. “My client’s conduct took place 20 years ago, he’s of no danger to the community and he may be better off not being locked in a jail cell.”

The high court is deliberating on the application of conditional sentences concerning a half dozen cases and a ruling is expected within months. Among the types of cases the Supreme Court judgement could affect are sentences involving cases of impaired driving causing death, sexual assault and crimes involving the abuse of a position of trust.

Bradie said if the Supreme Court decision does not come down before his client’s next court appearance, he will likely request a further delay. “What’s another month after 20 years?” he asked.

Bradie added MacLean wishes to have the matter dealt with. “Part of him wants to put it all behind him.” In the meantime, Bradie filed a psychiatric report and multiple character references with the court for the judge to consider before passing sentence.

Other charges

MacLean has pleaded guilty to fondling and masturbating four adolescent boys when he was a parish priest in Windsor and London in the 1970s. He also faces charges of indecently assaulting a London boy in the early 1980s.

He was relieved of his pastoral duties at St. Therese parish in Windsor in 1997. While awaiting sentencing, he has been living in a home owned by the Diocese of London in Strathroy.

Crown Attorney Denis Harrison said there are a handful of cases now before the courts in Windsor that are on hold pending the outcome of the Supreme Court decision and he added that bids for conditional sentences come up “on a regular basis.” But, Harrison stated, the court system has not been delayed or unduly taxed by cases awaiting the Supreme Court ruling.

Bradie is also representing 21-year-old Kelly Hebert in one of those pending cases. She pleaded guilty on impaired driving causing death charges last February, stemming from a fatal crash in 1998, which saw a drunken Hebert drive off the road into a ditch, killing her friend, 20-year-old Amy Croft and her 17-year-old sister Kim Hebert.

Bradie has argued for a conditional sentence to allow Hebert to perform public service by doing a speaking tour on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Under the new law, a judge must be satisfied that serving the sentence in the community would not endanger public safety and would be consistent with the fundamental purposes of sentencing.

Those considerations are: to denounce unlawful conduct, to deter the offender and others from committing like offences, to separate offenders from society when necessary, to assist in criminal rehabilitation, to promote reparations for harm done to victims and society and to promote a sense of responsibility in the offender.

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Priest to face more charges

The Windsor Star

29 June 1999

Two more charges have been laid against a 56-year-old Roman Catholic priest, who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four adolescent boys in the 1970s in Windsor and London.

Cameron J. Maclean was arraigned last week on charges of indecently assaulting a Windsor boy between 1969 and 1972 and a London boy between 1976 and 1977.

Also still outstanding are charges of indecent assault and buggery involving a Windsor boy between 1977 and 1979 and indecent assault involving a London boy in the early 1980s.

Maclean was stationed at St. Therese parish in Windsor when he was relieved of pastoral duties in October 1997, just before the first charges were laid.

He is living in a Strathroy home owned by the Diocese of London.

He is to make his next court appearance July 21.

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Priest’s sentencing on hold; Supreme Court decision could grant right to serve time in community

The Windsor Star

03 June 1999

Don Lajoie Star Staff Reporter

The sentencing of a Roman Catholic priest who has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children in Windsor during the 1970s has been remanded to await a Supreme Court decision that may affect his bid to avoid jail time.

Andrew Bradie, defence lawyer for 56-year-old Cameron J. MacLean, asked Ontario Court Justice Samuel Zaltz Wednesday to put the sentencing hearing over until the Supreme Court of Canada rules on the “propriety” of new laws that give judges the power to grant conditional sentences to be served in the community.

During a brief court appearance, Bradie told Zaltz that defence and the Crown jointly requested the delay “until the Supreme Court makes a decision which may be of assistance to this court in passing sentence.” Zaltz set the case aside until June 23, when counsel may make further submissions.

Outside the courtroom, Bradie said he will be asking for a conditional sentence for his client, allowing MacLean to serve time in the community rather than behind bars.

“Parliament has determined that, for sentences of two years less a day and if there is no danger to the community, (offenders) may be entitled to conditional sentences,” said Bradie. “My client’s conduct took place 20 years ago, he’s of no danger to the community and he may be better off not being locked in a jail cell.”

The high court is deliberating on the application of conditional sentences concerning a half dozen cases and a ruling is expected within months. Among the types of cases the Supreme Court judgement could affect are sentences involving cases of impaired driving causing death, sexual assault and crimes involving the abuse of a position of trust.

Bradie said if the Supreme Court decision does not come down before his client’s next court appearance, he will likely request a further delay. “What’s another month after 20 years?” he asked.

Bradie added MacLean wishes to have the matter dealt with. “Part of him wants to put it all behind him.” In the meantime, Bradie filed a psychiatric report and multiple character references with the court for the judge to consider before passing sentence.

Other charges

MacLean has pleaded guilty to fondling and masturbating four adolescent boys when he was a parish priest in Windsor and London in the 1970s. He also faces charges of indecently assaulting a London boy in the early 1980s.

He was relieved of his pastoral duties at St. Therese parish in Windsor in 1997. While awaiting sentencing, he has been living in a home owned by the Diocese of London in Strathroy.

Crown Attorney Denis Harrison said there are a handful of cases now before the courts in Windsor that are on hold pending the outcome of the Supreme Court decision and he added that bids for conditional sentences come up “on a regular basis.” But, Harrison stated, the court system has not been delayed or unduly taxed by cases awaiting the Supreme Court ruling.

Bradie is also representing 21-year-old Kelly Hebert in one of those pending cases. She pleaded guilty on impaired driving causing death charges last February, stemming from a fatal crash in 1998, which saw a drunken Hebert drive off the road into a ditch, killing her friend, 20-year-old Amy Croft and her 17-year-old sister Kim Hebert.

Bradie has argued for a conditional sentence to allow Hebert to perform public service by doing a speaking tour on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Under the new law, a judge must be satisfied that serving the sentence in the community would not endanger public safety and would be consistent with the fundamental purposes of sentencing.

Those considerations are: to denounce unlawful conduct, to deter the offender and others from committing like offences, to separate offenders from society when necessary, to assist in criminal rehabilitation, to promote reparations for harm done to victims and society and to promote a sense of responsibility in the offender.

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Excerpt from “Liturgically Speaking”

The Orator

April-December 1999 (January 2000)

Sylvia MacEachern

Father Cameron J. MacLean: Last year (1998) Father MacLean pled guilty to charges of sexual abuse against four boys in London and Windsor.’ This year another young man, “Bob,” came forward with allegations that, as a boy of thirteen, Father MacLean had started molesting him. Bob alleges that Father MacLean befriended him. Bob would go to the rectory to help out and to see the aquarium. Father would talk about girls and ask Bob if he was interested in girls. Then the priest would talk about masturbation, and he would ask the boy if he liked to do it and was he doing it properly. Next, according to Bob, Father MacLean wanted to measure the boy’s penis, but it had to be erect to measure it — so the priest would fondle the boy. Then he would masturbate the boy. Father MacLean even tried it once when he was at Bob’s house for supper. This went on for about a year until Bob couldn’t stand it anymore, couldn’t get an erection and didn’t want to be around the priest. He stopped going to Mass. His parents got angry with him. He started having nightmares. He was afraid of the dark. He started drinking and taking  drugs and having emotional problems. His parents suggested he go and talk to Father MacLean. He couldn’t bring himself to tell them what had happened. When his parents finally learned, they were shocked, didn’t want publicity and just wanted Father MacLean to get help and be moved.

The bishop of the diocese, by then John M. Sherlock, was made aware of these allegations in 1981. No charges were laid. The boy’s life became a nightmare. He was confused about his sexual identity. He dropped out of High School. Had two nervous break-downs. Two beautiful children. One failed marriage.

Father MacLean continued to function as a parish priest until the charges were laid last year.

As a disturbing aside, the same young man had previously been molested by Father John Gerald Stock, a Scarborough Foreign Missions priest found guilty in 1999 of multiple counts of sexual assaults on young altar boys. The known molestations date back to the 50s and continue into the mid 70s.

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Priest waives right to preliminary hearing

The Windsor Star

21 April 1999

A 56-year-old priest waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of sexually abusing a Windsor boy in the late 1970s.

Cameron J. MacLean appeared briefly in Ontario court in Windsor Tuesday and was committed to stand trial by Justice Harry Momotiuk on three charges each of indecent assault and buggery. All the alleged encounters took place between January 1977 and December 1979 in London, Toronto and Wheatley.

The alleged victim, now in his 30s, was at the courthouse prepared to testify at the preliminary hearing before MacLean’s lawyer Andrew Bradie, informed the judge his client agreed to go to trial without one.

MacLean was relieved of his pastoral duties at St. Therese parish in Windsor in October 1997. He has since pleaded guilty to fondling and masturbating four adolescent boys when he was a parish priest in Windsor and London in the 1970s. He is scheduled to be sentenced on those charges June 2.

He also faces two charges of indecently assaulting a London boy in the early 1980s.

MacLean is currently living in a home in Strathroy owned by the Diocese of London.

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Priest faces more charges

The Windsor Star

16 October 1998

More charges were laid Thursday against a former Windsor Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty in July to sexually abusing four boys in the 1970s.

Rev. Cameron J. MacLean, 55, was arraigned in a Windsor court on three counts of indecent assault and three of buggery. The alleged encounters with a young boy took place between January 1977 and December 1979 in London, Toronto and Wheatley.

MacLean was arraigned in London last month on two counts of indecently assaulting a boy there in the early 1980s.

He pleaded guilty in July to fondling and masturbating four adolescent boys when he was a parish priest in Windsor and London in the 1970s. MacLean is scheduled to be sentenced for those offences on Feb. 1.

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Molester priest faces new sex charges

The Windsor Star

14 August 1998

Ellen van Wageningen Star Justice Reporter

A Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty in July to sexually abusing four boys in the 1970s is facing new charges involving a fifth youth, and Windsor police are investigating another allegation.

Rev. Cameron J. MacLean, 55, was arraigned Monday in London on charges of indecently assaulting a boy there in the early 1980s. Then he was followed into a Windsor court Thursday by a man who claims he is another victim.

Mark Maurice, 33, told reporters outside court that he was sexually abused by MacLean in the 1970s. He’s gone to police and plans to file a lawsuit, he said.

He decided to come forward after reading about MacLean’s guilty pleas a month ago, he said. He came to court to see the priest, who he had no desire to speak to, he said. “I’m angry right now. I’m really mad.”

Det. Steve Beaudry of Windsor Police Service confirmed Maurice made a complaint last week. It will be investigated and, if warranted, a charge would be laid before Oct. 15 — MacLean’s next scheduled court appearance in Windsor, Beaudry said.

MacLean was to be sentenced Thursday for fondling and masturbating four adolescent boys, now men in their thirties, when he was a parish priest in Windsor and London in the 1970s. Defence lawyer Andrew Bradie asked for a postponement to see if the new London charges — two counts of indecent assault involving a male youth — should be transferred to Windsor.

Bradie told reporters he has to get more information about the London charge before MacLean pleads. He said he wasn’t aware of Maurice’s allegations.

“Charges have to come forward, and until they’re before the court we can’t deal with them,” Bradie said.

MacLean voluntarily entered a rehabilitation program in 1985. Bradie said he couldn’t provide more more details until the priest’s sentencing hearing.

MacLean’s colleagues and superiors in the church are “supportive of him but, of course, they have to be careful what he does until these matters are dealt with,” the lawyer said.

MacLean was relieved of his pastoral duties at St. Therese parish in Windsor on Oct. 17, 1997 — shortly before the first charge was laid by a former Windsor man. MacLean is living in Strathroy in a home owned by the Diocese of London.

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Priest admits sex abuse of boys

The Windsor Star

09 July 1998

Ellen van Wageningen Star Justice Reporter

A Roman Catholic priest who counselled troubled young people during the 1970s pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually abusing four boys more than two decades ago.

Rev. Cameron J. MacLean, 55, admitted indecently assaulting the four adolescent boys who were members of his parishes in Windsor and London.

The incidents involved fondling and masturbating of the victims by MacLean.

MacLean was relieved of his pastoral duties at St. Theresa parish in Windsor on Oct. 17, 1997 — shortly before the first charge was laid. He is living in Strathroy in a home owned by the Diocese of London.

He remains a priest and no decisions about his future will be made until after his sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 13, said Rev. Tony Daniels, vicar general for the diocese of London. “He has no pastoral responsibilities whatever.”

MacLean was relieved of his duties at a parish in London in the 1980s following a complaint of sexual abuse but was later reinstated, Daniels said Wednesday.

No charges were laid in connection with that complaint.

On the advice of counsellors who treated him, the diocese allowed MacLean to return to work as a parish priest and he was being monitored regularly, the vicar general said. “After the allegation and after he sought treatment, Father MacLean has not reoffended.”

He said he was not aware how MacLean was monitored.

MacLean and his lawyer, Andrew Bradie, declined comment Wednesday.

Two of MacLean’s victims still live in Windsor. One lives in London and another lives in Alberta.

Court was told that the first victim to pursue a criminal charge against MacLean returned to Windsor in June 1997 and met with the priest at a restaurant. MacLean apologized and told the man, who is now 38, he’d received counselling.

The man said in an interview Wednesday he decided to pursue a criminal charge “to close a chapter in my life” and because he wanted to ensure MacLean wouldn’t again have access to children through the church.

“I don’t hate the guy at all,” he said. “I do believe he has to be accountable for his actions.”

Court was told MacLean, who ran several youth groups at Most Precious Blood parish, sexually assaulted the man twice when he was 13 or 14 years old. The parents of the victim, described as a difficult youth who had been caught stealing and lying, had sent him to MacLean for help.

After the sexual assaults “he felt total disrespect for the priest and the religion he preached, and he was angered with his parents for sending him to this priest,” Crown prosecutor Corinne Sutherland-Nikota told the court.

The man later developed drug and alcohol addictions. He became sober in late 1994 and two years later decided to do something about the haunting memories of his encounters with MacLean, court was told.

A second victim went to police in 1997 after finding out that MacLean was a counsellor at the high school where he was enrolling his children, court was told.

The victim told police MacLean counselled him when he was in high school in 1972 and 1973. Court was told the victim recalled being fondled or masturbated by MacLean about 10 times when he was 14 and 15 years old, including two incidents that took place at Most Precious Blood. The victim said MacLean told him “this was not a sin” and he continued to visit the priest after he moved to a London parish in 1977.

The third victim was a member of MacLean’s youth group and an altar boy at Most Precious Blood. He became friends with MacLean, whom he continued to visit when the priest moved to London in 1977. During one of the visits he was fondled by Maclean, who stopped when he protested, court was told.

In a letter read to the court the man said he didn’t tell his parents because he didn’t want the incident to damage their faith the way it had his.

The fourth victim and his family became close friends of MacLean when he was an associate pastor at St. John the Divine parish in London. He was 13 years old when he was sexually assaulted by MacLean. He didn’t tell his parents until years later.

“One thing that solidified the friendship between Father MacLean and the complainants was that he was a young priest and drove a cool car,” Sutherland-Nikota told the court.

MacLean is also named in a lawsuit by a London man who alleges MacLean “repeatedly sexually assaulted” him when he was between eight and 12 years old. No criminal charges have been laid stemming from that allegation.