Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Canada

The Catholic sexual abuse cases in Canada have been centered in Newfoundland dioceses, although there have been reported cases of abuse in most Canadian provinces.

Hubert Patrick O'Connor was a Canadian Roman Catholic bishop of Prince George in British Columbia who was forced to resign following sex abuse charges filed against him.

Fr. Damian Lawrence Cooper is a Vancouver priest who was first accused of sexual abuse in 1994. Fr Cooper is being sued in the B.C. Supreme Court along with the Archdiocese of Vancouver, with a court date of September 29, 2014. The plaintiff went for counselling to the priest and was 16 years old when the sexual abuse began. Media coverage of the lawsuit unearthed the fact that despite initial claims of having removed Fr. Cooper permanently from the priestly ministry when the abuse was first admitted in 1994, the Archdiocese of Vancouver instead sent Fr. Cooper to work in an Archdiocese on Long Island NY, where he then committed "problems of a similar nature." The Archdiocese's official comments to the media referred to the abuse as "an affair" which raised public expressions of concern, including questions about whether the Archdiocese was being legally aggressive or simply remained ignorant of the nature of pastoral sexual exploitation when it equated sexual exploitation of a minor and a congregant with "an affair". Fr. Cooper is still a priest of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, technically on leave, but has not been laicised (permanently removed from active ministry as a priest). He lives in Vancouver, Washington.

In 1988, a scandal erupted over allegations of widespread abuse of children at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland. In 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Roman Catholic Church is responsible (vicariously liable) for sexual abuse by its Priests in the diocese of Saint George's. In February 2009, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled that the Roman Catholic Church in St. John’s was responsible ("vicariously liable") for the sexual abuse of eight former altar boys by disgraced priest, Reverend James Hickey. In 2007 Reverend Wayne Dohey was acquitted of one charge of sexual assault and one charge of exploitation of a minor due to insufficient evidence. The abuse allegedly occurred between 1996 and 2000 and started when the alleged victim was 14. Dohey was admitted to counselling in 2001 when the sexual relationship was acknowledged by the church. Controversy over the legality of the sexual relationship occurred because it was unclear whether Dohey was in a position of authority over the 14-year-old Anglican, who was placed at his church for mandatory community service.

Charles Henry Sylvestre

2006: In August, Father Charles Henry Sylvestre (born 1922), of Belle River Ontario plead guilty to 47 counts of sexual abuse on females, aged between nine and fourteen years old between 1952 and 1989. Paul Bailey, the Crown Attorney for Chatham Kent, reportedly described the case as being the "largest case of non-residential school sex abuse by a Roman Catholic priest" in North America. Local newspapers documented the lives of many of the women who refused the publication ban and spokeout about their abuse. Sylvestre was given a three year sentence in October 2006 and died January 22, 2007 of natural causes after only three months in prison. The case was documented by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Documentary series, The Fifth Estate.

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