Diocese of Huron faces civil lawsuit over sex abuse

The victims were all boys.

From here:

Disgraced ex-cleric David Norton’s legal troubles appear to go way beyond the criminal courts.

The former Anglican priest who was convicted Tuesday of four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault of boys from Chippewas of the Thames First Nation already is facing civil action from another victim in London and a counter-claim from the Diocese of Huron.

The plaintiff in a $4.9-million lawsuit against Norton and the Diocese of Huron is the victim in Norton’s sexual interference conviction registered earlier this year. He was abused by the priest at St. Mark’s parish in the 1990s.

Norton, 72, pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced in August to four years in prison.

Just like the rest of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Diocese of Huron likes to trumpet its virtue by participating in Truth and Reconciliation blanket exercises, walks, bicycle rides or, as the Diocese of Niagara so charmingly puts it by: “live[ing] into the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action and confront the ways in which it has embodied colonial attitudes.”

Of course, extirpating colonial attitudes is a lot cheaper than $4.9-million, so the Diocese of Huron has decided not to live into taking any responsibility for the abuse, let alone reconciling with the victims. Instead, we have a litany of denials:

In a statement of defence, the diocese denied “each and every allegation in the statement of claim.”

They deny Norton was an employee and they deny they knew about his activities. They also deny the boy was injured.

The diocese has issued a cross-claim against Norton, holding him solely responsible for any liability.

Tanya Phibbs, Archdeacon of the Diocese of Huron, told Global News that the Diocese was “deeply saddened” by the allegations. Not $4.9 million worth of saddened, though.