Cornwall diocese breached its protocol on sex abuse;

Tag: canada

Posted By BY TREVOR PRITCHARD, THE CANADIAN PRESS

An eastern Ontario Catholic diocese failed in 1993 to follow its own protocol for dealing with priests suspected of sexual abuse, its former lawyer told a Cornwall public inquiry on Wednesday.

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Jacques Leduc had been retained by the Alexandria- Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese to help negotiate a settlement with David Silmser after the former altar boy accused Rev. Charles MacDonald of sexually abusing him in the 1960s and 1970s.

Leduc said the diocese breached its protocol twice: no one was designated to take Silmser's complaint to the Children's Aid Society, nor did the diocese generate a written report on the case.

"Those are the two matters set out in these guidelines that I knew about and that I can point out to you," Leduc told the inquiry.

The long-running judicial inquiry is probing how the police and other public institutions responded to allegations of systemic sexual abuse, dating back decades, in the eastern Ontario city.

Leduc told the inquiry that a press release the diocese issued in January 1994, after the story of Silmser's $32,000 settlement hit the national media, was inaccurate.

Silmser had met with Leduc and two priests in February 1993 to seek a letter of apology from Mac- Donald.

Seven months later, Silmser settled with the diocese in exchange for not pursuing criminal or civil charges.

Leduc testified on Tuesday that before the settlement was drawn up, he made it clear to the accused reverend's lawyer, Malcolm MacDonald, and then-bishop Eugene LaRocque that it could not impede any criminal proceedings.

Leduc's testimony is expected to resume today.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/Article...?e=1118324