Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver aware of dozens of cases of sexual abuse since 1950s
Credit to Author: Glenda Luymes| Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2019 23:16:38 +0000
A review of Vancouver church files has found 26 cases of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests against minors since the 1950s, according to a report on clergy sexual abuse released by the Archdiocese of Vancouver on Friday.
An additional 10 cases were also discovered involving consensual adult relationships where the “imbalance of power made them likely to be abusive,” as well as three cases involving priests who fathered children.
The numbers were made public — a first for a Catholic diocese in Canada — after the Archdiocese of Vancouver appointed a committee to address what it called “the worldwide crisis” of sexual abuse by priests.
The committee made 31 recommendations, also released Friday, urging the archdiocese to publish a list of clergy who were guilty of sexual abuse, including those who have been “credibly accused” but not convicted, calling it “an absolute imperative.”
While the archdiocese released the names and photos of five priests who have been criminally convicted, as well as two others who settled lawsuits and two “public cases,” it stopped short of publishing information about credibly accused priests, who “have not been convicted, but of whose guilt we are morally certain.”
The archdiocese cited Canadian privacy legislation, and noted they would publish more if they were able. Two independent non-Catholic lawyers will be taking over the investigation process for any future reports of sexual abuse, as well as looking into the files of priests who have been the subject of historic complaints.
The hope is that more charges can be laid in the cases of credibly accused priests, making it possible to publicly name them, said Archdiocese of Vancouver spokesperson Melissa Godbout. “They’ll be investigating (the cases), hoping to strengthen them, so charges can be laid.”
A complete list of the assignments of each priest already named publicly is expected to be provided on the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s website in the near future.
The names and details of the other 17 priests who have been credibly accused but not charged will remain confidential.
“The Archdiocese has dealt with a number of cases that are not mentioned here,” said the report. “These courageous claimants who contacted the Archdiocese were heard and believed. The fact that these cases are not dealt with in this report does not mean they were unfounded. Each file will be reviewed with care.”
The report also contained more information about how the Archdiocese of Vancouver handled sexual abuse cases, noting there was never a practice of shuffling priests, unlike in many other major cities. “The only case we are aware of was more than 50 years ago.”
The report said the archdiocese was not aware of any priests who are strongly suspected of having abused children or adults currently working in the archdiocese or another diocese.
Godbout said the review is the first of its kind in Canada, as the Archdiocese of Vancouver hoped to “lead the charge.” Contacted for an earlier Postmedia story, the Victoria and Prince George dioceses said they will be watching what happens in Vancouver before taking similar steps.
In a letter at the beginning of the report, Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller said he realized “no expression of regret can repair the horror of what happened. … I nonetheless wish to offer each of you my heartfelt apology for the trauma, the violation in body and soul, and the sense of betrayal and abandonment by the Church that you feel.”
Miller, who has been appointed chair of a national bishops’ committee on preventing clerical abuse, will read the letter at masses this weekend.
Miller appointed the 13-person committee after news in 2018 of a grand jury naming 300 priests accused of abusing 1,000 victims in Pennsylvania. The Vancouver committee, which included “highly respected lawyers,” a psychologist and four abuse survivors, reviewed 36 sexual abuse cases dating to 1950.
The Vancouver Archdiocese presides over 443,000 parishioners in Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Powell River and parts of the Interior and northern B.C.
In a summary of its recommendations, the committee said that one of its “most devastating realizations” was that victims in historical cases had to sign confidentiality agreements, meaning their stories were not made public.
“When abusers’ names are made public, other victims feel able to come forward,” said the committee. “Thus, there are still people in this Archdiocese who continue to suffer in silence, keeping unhealthy secrets to themselves, living in shame that is not theirs to hold, believing they are alone and believing they are the only ones who have suffered such violation and degradation at the hands of a particular priest.
“This has to stop, and this has to stop now.”
The archdiocese no longer requires victims to sign confidentiality agreements and has waived previously signed agreements.
Criminal convictions, lawsuits settled and public cases
The report listed nine priests who spent time in Vancouver.
Paul Blancard: The RCMP investigated Blancard in relation to the sexual assault of a six- or seven-year-old girl in Burnaby in 1967 or 1968. No charges were laid, but two more allegations dating to his ministry there were received by police in 2016. A complaint regarding his time in Victoria was made to the RCMP in 1990. Charges were laid in 1992 and he was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison.
George Gordon: Gordon was charged with the abuse of three boys in the 1950s at Holy Rosary Cathedral. Although the abuse was reported to the archdiocese at the time, and again in 1967, he remained in ministry until two victims reported it to police and the archdiocese in 1989. He was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to six months in jail.
John McCann: In 1991, McCann was convicted of six counts of sexual abuse of girls under the age of 16 in the 1970s. He served 10 months in jail. The abuse happened when he was serving at St. Augustine’s Parish and St. Peter’s in New Westminster. He also served as a priest on Salt Spring Island and in Ottawa.
Harold McIntee: McIntee was arrested in 1989 and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. Many of his victims were boys in residential schools in Kamloops, Prince George and Victoria. He was sentenced to two years in jail for abusing 17 boys in B.C. over 25 years.
Alfred Frank Louis Sasso: After serving a three-month sentence for three counts of gross indecency against three youths in Ontario in 1980, Sasso came to Vancouver, where he worked at the Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Parish and Sts. Peter and Paul Parishes, before abruptly returning to Ontario.
Lawrence Edward Cooper: Cooper admitted to have a relationship with a 15-year-old girl he met as a seminarian at Camp Latona in 1985. The relationship became sexual several years later, by which time he was a priest. The victim reported the relationship to the archdiocese in 1994.
Antero Sarmiento: Complaints of inappropriate behaviour about Sarmiento were made to the archdiocese in 1980, at which time he abruptly returned to Manila, which had allowed him to work on loan to Vancouver since 1977. Police received an arrest warrant on three charges of indecent assault in 2004, but he refused to return for questioning.
Edwin Budiman: In 2007, Budiman was charged with two sexual offences involving minors. Both were stayed, but he was removed as pastor.
John Eason: Eason was convicted in 1995 of one count of indecent assault against a 21-year-old woman in Powell River in 1980. He plead guilty and was ordered to serve a 2.5-year probation term.