Alleged victim of Catholic priest in northern Ont. wins access to his personnel file

A judge has ordered an archdiocese in Manitoba to hand over a personnel file on a disgraced priest as part of a lawsuit by a man who says he was a victim of abuse by a priest when he was with the Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.

The personnel file on the priest, identified only as ‘Father Roy,’ covers the period from 1952-59, when Roy was with the Archdiocese of St.-Boniface in Manitoba.

A key part of the lawsuit says that the Sault diocese knew or ought to have known that Roy had a history of sexual abuse involving at least three victims in St. Boniface when he was accepted for a pastoral placement in northern Ontario.

In part, it relies on a deposition from Robert Zilliox, a U.S.-based expert on canon law.

Misconduct allegations

“Mr. Zilliox has deposed that they provide for the archival retention of clergy personnel records, which are said to include complaints, misconduct allegations (sexual or otherwise) and their resolution, background checks and training in the protection of minors, among other things,” the court decision said.

“The plaintiff says he has been unable to obtain the file from Sault Ste. Marie through the usual discovery process. Sault Ste. Marie has delivered an ‘Affidavit of Documents,’ and the archdiocese’s personnel file for Roy is not listed in Schedule A as being or having been in its possession, power or control.”

Lawyer Jeffrey Preszler argued that the Schedule A shows that the Sault diocese was aware of “at least one complaint of sexual misconduct made against Roy, prior to Roy’s assignment to (Sault St. Marie).”

“The plaintiff submits … that there is a history of allegations that Roy sexually abused three other children over the course of several pastoral placements within the archdiocese. The issue for trial will be if and when such a propensity was known or ought to have been known by Sault Ste. Marie prior to Roy’s assignment within its community.”

No knowledge or suspicions

In its statement of defence, the Sault diocese denies it had any knowledge of Roy committing abuse.

“At no time did it have any knowledge, actual or otherwise, or any suspicion of any alleged sexually inappropriate contact and/or of any propensity on the part of Roy as described in the statement of claim,” the court decision said.

And the Boniface archdiocese said that the records in question don’t contain any information relevant to the lawsuit.

“It suggests that the requested disclosure does not bear on Sault Ste. Marie’s liability and would put the archdiocese to ‘undue inconvenience, expense and exposure to liability,’” the decision said.

“The non-party suggests that the plaintiff is on a fishing expedition.”

In her decision, Superior Court Justice H.A. Rady ruled in favour of the plaintiff and that the archdiocese must produce the personnel records.

“They bear on a central issue for trial, namely, what, if anything, did Sault Ste. Marie know of Roy’s past?” Rady wrote.

“Was there information of concern in the archdiocese’s file and if so, was it disclosed to Sault Ste. Marie? What steps did Sault Ste. Marie take to investigate Roy’s employment history? Was it obliged to do so? These are all issues to be determined at trial, which makes the documents relevant.”

It would be unfair to have the plaintiff go to trial without being able to review the documents first, she said.

“It would clearly be unfair to the plaintiff to proceed to trial without the opportunity to review the requested information,” Rady wrote.