A B.C. man is alleging he was subjected to sexual abuse and physical violence while a boy at a Vancouver Roman Catholic school.
V.C.A.B. (his name has been anonymized) said in an Oct. 7 Supreme Court of B.C. notice of civil claim that he suffered organized and protracted psychological, physical, spiritual and sexualized abuse by various lay and religious teachers and staff when he was a minor and a student at Vancouver College, a private Roman Catholic all-boys school between 1980 and 1984.
Named as defendants are Vancouver College Limited (VCL), the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver A Corporation Sole, Brother Gerard Gabriel McHugh, Brother Edward English, Brother Michael Anthony Maher, Brother Basil Blom, Brother Ronald H. MacKenzie, Brother David B. Burton, Brother Joseph Pascal Rowland, Joseph Burke, John Kavelac and the B.C. Ministry of Education.
The claim said V.C.A.B., now 58, was involved in a motor vehicle accident with his family in 1969 causing fatal injuries to his eight-year-old brother. In 1979, his father died unexpectedly.
The claim said V.C.A.B. attended a Catholic school for grades three through eight without experiencing any abuse or violence.
The next, year, however, he was enrolled at VCL from which he graduated in 1984.
The claim said McHugh, a Christian Brother, was director and president of VCL from 1979 to 1981. The claim asserts McHugh knew of the propensities of English and other defendants to sexually, physically or emotionally abuse children.
The claim said English, a former English Brother at the notorious Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland confessed to abusing boys there. It said he was transferred to Vancouver “where he encountered and abused the plaintiff.”
The claims
The claim said V.C.A.B. met Maher in his grade nine school year when the plaintiff was 14.
“Maher verbally demeaned and physically threatened the plaintiff with intent to inflict mental suffering,” the claim said.
With regard to Blom, the claim said V.C.A.B. also met him in grade nine.
“Blom . . . struck the plaintiff on his buttocks as punishment while standing at the front of the class at Blom's desk,” the claim said. “Blom punished the plaintiff with six-hour detentions regularly on Saturdays for minor classroom infractions and for not completing his homework.”
The claim called the punishments inconsistent, humiliating and disproportionate to the impugned behaviour with the intent to cause mental distress to V.C.A.B.
The claim said MacKenzie punched V.C.A.B. in the head and face, slapped his face, grabbed and twisted his neck and shoulder until he cried out in pain and inflicted physical and mental intimidation.
It said English punched him in the head and face, pinned him to the wall at the back of the classroom while throwing punches at his chest and face, grabbed his genital region and twisted his genitalia while threatening him and physically battered and verbally taunted him.
The claim said Kavelac dismissed V.C.A.B.’s complaint of sexual assault by English and blamed him for causing the assault.
In the 1982-1983 or 1983-1984 school years, the claim alleges Kavelac violently struck the plaintiff across his thoracic spine with a yardstick with maximum strength and leverage in front of an entire class causing the plaintiff to drop to the floor on his knees in tears.
The claim alleges Rowland used great force on the child causing him to scream in pain.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants failed to protect the child from multiple kinds of abuse, failed to properly select employees for the school, and failed to train staff in their moral and legal duties.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The claim asserts the government, as a funder of the school, had a responsibility to ensure the safety of the children through its oversight capacities.
The claim asserts multiple psychological and physiological injuries and seeks non-pecuniary and aggravated damages, loss of past earning capacity, loss of future earning capacity, special damages including health-care costs payable to the Province of British Columbia and costs of future care.
Defendant responses
Spokesman Matthew Furtado said the Archdiocese of Vancouver extends its “heartfelt sympathy to all survivors of abuse.”
“While we are unable to comment on the specifics of this case as it is now before the courts, we hope that the increased attention will encourage other survivors to come forward and seek the healing and support they deserve,” he said.
“The Catholic community in Vancouver remains committed to a safe and caring environment and has implemented extensive measures and policies to prevent all forms of abuse," Furtado said.
Government spokesman John O’Dowd said ministries cannot comment on issues during the election period.
The college maintains a website about alleged abuse and cases.
