Newfoundland Church Scandal Continues With A $13M Settlement

It’s no secret that the Catholic Church in Newfoundland and Labrador has been plagued by sexual abuse and scandals that have afflicted its community for generations. In particular, a public investigation into the decades-long sexual abuse of young orphaned boys by Christian Brothers at the Catholic orphanage Mount Cashel in St. John’s was launched in the early 1990s after decades of abuse by the Brothers was revealed in the 1980s.

Unfortunately, sexual abuse of minors by members of the Catholic Church or those working in institutions run by the Church has been a long-standing, worldwide systemic problem. The Supreme Court’s decision not to let the Archdiocese appeal the NLCA’s ruling, however, paves the way for additional victims of the Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel to seek restitution and compensation from the Church for the harm they endured at the hands of the Brothers.

Victims of sexual assault at government-run adolescent institutions in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1973 and 1989 will share in a $12.8 million settlement as part of a class action lawsuit. Three named plaintiffs, one woman and two men, claimed they were sexually molested by employees at juvenile detention centers and youth homes run by the province.

According to McGrath’s ruling, the female plaintiff claimed that she was sexually abused by three different personnel at a girls’ home between 1979 and 1982. A male complainant claimed that a priest at the boys institution in Whitbourne, Newfoundland drugged and sexually assaulted him in a remote cabin. McGrath said that in 1974, another male student at Whitbourne School said that two guards sexually assaulted him “several times.”

According to the verdict, abuse happened at three Newfoundland facilities for juvenile offenders and kids in care!

The Chief Justice Rosalie McGrath granted a settlement of $12.5 million, which will be divided between claimants and administrative costs, an allowance of $10,000 for each of the three plaintiffs, and $250,000 to advertise the case and encourage other people to come forward with abuse accusations.

According to an August 31 decision by Assistant Chief Justice Rosalie McGrath of the Supreme Court of the Province, people who are eligible to file a claim may have been victims of abuse, including naked physical abuse or sexual misconduct, by staff, volunteers, or other residents