The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George has settled a $3.4-million lawsuit brought by an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a former teacher, Alfred Patrick Quigley. The settlement, also involving St. Thomas More Collegiate, acknowledges the diocese's legal responsibility for the acts of its employee. Quigley, who denied the allegations, could not be reached for comment.
VANCOUVER — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George, B.C., says it hopes a $3.4-million settlement gives an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a school teacher "some degree of restitution for the harm that was so unjustly inflicted upon him by his abuser."
Quigley taught at O'Grady Catholic High School in Prince George and one of the alleged assaults was said to have occurred at St. Thomas More Collegiate. The allegations were not proven in court and Quigley, now 75 and believed to be living in Newfoundland, has not been charged criminally in B.C. The lawsuit said Quigley was "unusually friendly and attentive" to the plaintiff, and took him to "sexually charged" movies including "Basic Instinct".
Kovacs said the settlement was reached just before the case was scheduled for a 23-day trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, and though it offers her client financial restitution, the lawsuit was also about "accountability." "That culture of secrecy and the clericalism, this idea that priests and religious men are superior to the laity, that creates I think a systemic issue that enables this abuse to happen and continually happen," she said.
SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUIT CATHOLIC CHURCH CANADA ACCOUNTABILITY
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