Trial stayed against 98-year-old nun accused of historic sex crimes at residential and day schools
CBC
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse of children at residential schools
The trial of an Ottawa nun accused of sex crimes at northern Ontario residential and day schools in the 1960s and 1970s will not proceed after a stay of proceedings was granted due to evidence issues.
Francoise Seguin, 98, is the third nun and eighth worker overall to face criminal charges in relation to abuse at St. Anne's Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont.
Seguin, of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, appeared on on three counts of gross indecency, a historic sexual assault offence, Tuesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Cochrane, Ont.
Assistant Crown attorney Sonia Beauchamp requested a stay of proceedings, citing difficulty getting necessary evidence.
"At this time, due to the unique evidentiary issues in this matter, the Crown is currently unable to meet the heavy burden of proof required in criminal law, despite wholesome attempts to obtain further records," Beauchamp told court.
The Crown and police had alleged the first offence occurred at St. Anne's in 1966-67, the second at Moosonee's Bishop Belleau School in 1969-70, and the third at a Sudbury detention facility in 1972-73.
The case involved a single male complainant, Joseph Etherington, who was a young student at the time, CBC News can now report. As the proceeding opened, Beauchamp successfully applied to lift a publication ban on his identity.
Sitting beside the Crown attorney, Etherington addressed the court, partly in Cree and often through tears.
"It was very overwhelming for me to know that what happened was going against all sin, related to the devil. I always remember the struggle that I felt inside myself," he said.
He described growing up in the Cree language and with the Cree people, of growing up with Roman Catholicism as a matter of fact, a religion about which he recalled learning in residential school. He went on to describe feelings of guilt and shame, saying for a long time he locked out what he alleged had happened.
"The memory of what happened was able to float away from me, but at the same time stay inside me. I was always, 'I'm, like, OK.' That I can do things," he said.
"But then came the beginning of when I started to use drugs and alcohol. That got me in trouble, caused trouble, and caused me to believe it was my fault."
Following the statement, defence counsel Michael Tomassini said for the record that his client, who declined to be present, wholeheartedly denies the allegations.
Imagine this: you're gently awoken by the dulcet tones of your personal assistant just as you're nearing the end of your final sleep cycle.
Today, six climate agencies from around the world all confirmed what we knew was coming: Earth once again experienced its hottest year on record.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Being able to speak Inuktitut on Hockey Night in Canada is like a dream come true for Pujjuut Kusugak.
For Edward Chou, a first-year biochemistry student at the University of Guelph, the symptoms began shortly after lunch on Monday.
Some Indigenous people reacted to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement this week that he would resign once the Liberals select a successor by praising him for his commitment to reconciliation, but others are pointing to unkept promises.
Mélanie Bouchard tries to bring her 13-year-old son everywhere, but car troubles coupled with the cost of an adapted vehicle to fit his wheelchair has left the single mom of four with few options.
One of the oldest public arts funders in North America hired its first Indigenous chief executive officer late last year.
The news caught retired Ottawa police investigator Randy Wisker by surprise.
A day after CBC revealed that a self-styled Vancouver Island "childbirth activist" was under police investigation, a manslaughter charge has been sworn against Gloria Lemay in relation to the death of a newborn last January.
Barry Blanchard, an alpinist and mountain guide who lives in Canmore, Alta., was among 88 people appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest honours, late last year.
The Louisiana Department of Health said on Monday that a U.S. patient hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu has died, the country's first death from an outbreak of the virus that has sickened dozens of people and millions of poultry and cattle.
A new book chronicles the experiences of Northern Indigenous people at residential schools with a particular look at Grollier Hall and Stringer Hall in Inuvik, N.W.T.
New research shows the rate of myopia among children and teens worldwide has tripled over the past three decades, with a particularly steep increase noted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Halton Healthcare and Conservation Halton announced in early December they were partnering with a B.C.-based foundation to offer nature prescriptions to patients for free access to the local conservation areas.
A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a "dinosaur highway" and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday.
It was a feat of determination, said Christina Lennox, who re-created a 1930s photo of their great-grandmother using 87,000 beads.
Michael Cheena says he gets emotional when he reads the names of the 18 residential schools that operated in Ontario on a monument in Spirit Garden in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square. He attended two of them.