The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver (RCAV) has reached a settlement with a B.C. man who says a North Vancouver priest and a coach sexually abused him.
“I cannot find the right words to explain how the sexual abuse I endured at age six has impacted my life,” said the man known as John Doe in court files. ”The stain of these traumatic events has permeated all facets of my life experience and caused me immense suffering, including a period of profound suicidality. I am fortunate to have survived that darkness.
“While the process was difficult and triggering, the defendant did in the end come to the table and this resolution allows me to put my connection with that institution in the proverbial rear-view mirror,” he said.
The undisclosed settlement came after six-and-a-half days of trial.
The man, whose name is covered by a publication ban, told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray his father had been killed in a dock accident on the day of his sixth birthday party.
The man said he became close to Father John Kilty while still grieving at that young age. It happened while he was attending the school at North Vancouver’s Holy Trinity Parish.
Lawyer Sandra Kovacs said the settlement followed evidence she said highlighted the institution’s systemic and cultural failings.
The man testified he first went to Kilty’s residence to get a pop.
“I found a tremendous amount of comfort in him,” he told the court. “I felt very safe, something that was missing from my life.”
“He craved a father,” Kovacs said.
He said as he and Kilty grew closer, the priest began to develop deeper connections with his family as well.
It was when the man was six, that Kilty arranged a sleepover at Kilty’s home.
It was then that the sexual abuse began.
He said he stood over the sleeping Kilty with a knife after the abuse.
Afterwards, Kilty became distant.
The man feared priests, going to confession and changing in front of others.
“I was constantly on alert for sexual danger,” he said.
Raymond Clavin
Also named as a defendant in the suit is Raymond Clavin.
The man testified he’s unsure how Clavin came into his family’s life. He became someone who was helpful to the struggling family, gave the children rides and other things, the court heard.
The man testified Clavin raped him.
After the first incident, he said he was “bawling in the car” and Clavin was screaming at him.
“His method of control is complete terror,” he testified of Clavin. “I want to say it happened more than once but I can’t be sure.”
He said Clavin threatened to hurt his mother and family.
Prior to the settlement, the RCAV has admitted in court documents sexual abuse of a man by Kilty and Clavin, and its vicarious liability for those harms.
It has, however, denied negligence for acting in any way that could attract punitive damages.
The plaintiff has claimed the church and associated school system “were complicit in a culture of entrenched clericalism that enabled perpetrators of sexual abuse to continue to commit their grievous crimes, and wherein witnesses, complainants and whistleblowers were silenced.”
