Sexual abuse: the Brothers of Christian Instruction allegedly took action at the Dolbeau Juvénat

Facts alleged in the class action lawsuit filed against the Brothers of Christian Instruction allegedly took place in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. At least three victims and one witness report events that allegedly took place at the Juvénat Saint-Jean in Dolbeau and at the École Saint-Michel in Mistassini.

This is what emerges from the application to institute proceedings which was filed Friday in the Superior Court of Quebec.

This document aims to highlight the facts alleged by the 30 alleged victims in the class action application that was authorized on May 21 by Judge Lukasz Granosik. They are claiming $10 million in punitive damages for events that allegedly took place from May 1^er January 1940.

The class action claims that leaders of the congregation, which was present in many schools in Quebec at the time, were aware of the sexual assaults and that they were only moving and protecting the attackers.

In addition to Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the alleged sexual assaults took place in around twenty schools in Montreal, Chaudière-Appalaches, Mauricie and Estrie.

According to the firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats, which represents the victims, more than 87 additional people have contacted it to register for the class action. Of this number, nearly ten are from the region.

Three alleged victims in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

Three alleged victims and a witness of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean are listed in the application. The alleged events allegedly took place at the Juvénat Saint-Jean in Dolbeau, at the École Saint-Michel in Mistassini and in parallel educational activities between 1957 and 1987. Their identities are protected.

One of them, named AA in the document, testifies to events which allegedly occurred in 1983 as part of an educational activity at the Juvénat Saint-Jean de Dolbeau at Lac Noir.

In the middle of the lake, Brother Joseph makes AA lie down in the canoe and pulls down his shorts to perform oral sex on him. […] In the bedroom, Brother Joseph makes AA lie down on the bed before lying down next to him himself, to sleep in a spoon position. Brother Joseph takes the opportunity to caress AA’s penis, but is interrupted by the arrival of other religious brothers. […] AA then tells Brother Trépanier about Brother Joseph’s sexual assaults. […] A few days after the meeting, Brother Trépanier announced to AA that Brother Joseph [est] transferred elsewherewe can read.

Another alleged victim testified to acts committed against him by brothers Joseph Michaud, Pierre Caron and Bernard Trépanier from 1984 to 1987 at the same juniorate.

Brother Caron […] hugs BB and takes his head with his forearm so insistently that the latter has to free himself from him. […] One day, BB injured his coccyx while playing hockey and it was Brother Trépanier who replaced it, although he was not a doctor, by inserting his finger into his anus a few times.

Brother Trépanier was later moved from the juniorate.

Another person said he witnessed an assault on a student in the infirmary.

Around 1958, Z unexpectedly entered the infirmary and saw one of his friends, naked, sitting on Brother Gustave’s knees..

On the side of the Saint-Michel School of Mistassini, a witness alleges sexual assaults suffered from 1960 to 1964 by Brother Ludger. He was then a student and altar server.

After Mass, when they finish putting away the altar boys’ belongings at the church, Brother Ludger takes CC to the school basement to sexually assault her. […] CC then thinks that sexual assaults are normal and part of the “job“to be assistant to Brother Ludgerit is written in the request.

Eighteen appeals by the same firm

This class action is part of 18 class actions launched by this firm against various congregations and dioceses across Quebec. The firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats believes it has a solid case. It does not rule out the possibility of an amicable settlement.

We want to put pressure on the congregation right now so that if the Brothers of Christian Instruction are in good faith and want to negotiate an amicable settlement, that we can do this between adults and that we can arrive at a settlement that is fair, that is equitable. But if we have to take legal action against the Brothers of Christian Instruction, we will take legal action against the Brothers of Christian Instruction.argued Antoine Duranleau-Hendrickx, lawyer at Arsenault Dufresne Wee Avocats, in an interview with Radio-Canada.

The process is progressing well for the victims. It is certainly a process that is intended to be a healing process. In some cases, this is the first time that the victims are talking about what they have experienced.

M^e Duranleau-Hendrickx expects that Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean will be a larger pool of potential victims, since the FIC There was a district in Dolbeau. They were present in several schools in the region.

The most well-known school was the Juvénat Saint-Jean de Dolbeau where several hundred people were boarders. So we also expect that when the people who were boarders there, there was easy access to the victims. So, there is potentially a kind of pool of victims.he said.

The firm also invites people who may have been victims to contact it.

THE FIC are represented by the firm LDB Avocats.

Victims compensated

In 2022, 120 victims of former priest Paul-André Harvey prevailed over the diocese of Chicoutimi, which had to pay them $13.7 million following the sexual abuse they suffered between 1962 and 2002.

The latter had notably pleaded guilty to 39 counts of indecent assault and sexual assault during his trial. He was sentenced in 2015 to six years in prison, where he died in 2018.

The diocese of Chicoutimi subsequently announced measures to repair the harm caused to the victims.