On September 16, 2003, in a landmark decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held a Catholic Diocese liable for over $1.4 million in damages for the sexual abuse of a plaintiff represented at trial by Fasken Martineau.
In John Doe v. O'Dell, the Honourable Justice Katherine Swinton found that a Catholic priest, Father Thomas O'Dell, had committed acts of sexual and psychological abuse of "extreme deviancy" against the plaintiff, who cannot be named by reason of a publication ban. The abuse was found to have had a "severe, extreme, and enduring" impact on all aspects of the plaintiff's life.
The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie, the Diocese in which the abuse took place, was held vicariously liable for the damages caused to the plaintiff. The trial judge held that the Diocese was vicariously liable because the priest developed "a relationship of psychological intimacy and power" over the plaintiff which "directly resulted from the exercise of responsibilities expected of a parish priest".
The trial judge found that the abuse of the plaintiff arose from a relationship in which Father O'Dell acted as the plaintiff's spiritual mentor. "Spiritual discussions and religious teaching with JD [the plaintiff] were transformed over time into terrorizing threats of hell and descriptions of children burned alive because they did not obey the priest," she stated in her reasons for decision. "Spiritual direction was transformed into commands for sexual submission and silence, backed up by threats of harm to JD's brother, boasts that no one would ever believe JD, and accusations that he was a sinner." Particular acts of abuse were found to have included religious symbols, a church altar and a confessional. Much of the abuse was found to have taken place in the priest's quarters forming part of a church building.
The trial judge held that vicarious liability of the Diocese would also serve a deterrent function. She stated that vicarious liability will promote "creative efforts to deal with the problem of sexual abuse -- for example, through greater supervision of priests, psychological testing, and possible proactive responses to sexual abuse in the Church". The trial judge did not find that the Diocese had committed any wrongful act, or that it was directly liable to the plaintiff in negligence.
The trial judge also rejected numerous defence arguments that the plaintiff's damages were due to causes other than his abuse, or were the inevitable result of psychological weaknesses pre-dating the abuse.
The plaintiff was represented at trial by Peter A. Downard and Jennifer L. McAleer of Fasken Martineau's Toronto office.