Introduction:
New evidence indicates that in 1975
twenty teenage boys gave false sex-abuse
statements to police about Mount Cashel
teachers, and they then repeated these
lies in 1979 after realizing new
‘victim compensation’ laws would
ensure they received large cash
settlements.
Evidence
includes:
- Two former students
say secret sex-acts would have been
impossible in the well-lit communal
dorms, TV room, swimming pool, or
main office,
- Students were
prohibited from entering the
teacher’s sleeping building,
- The 20
accusing-boys discussed everything
with other students and teachers,
but at the time of the alleged
sex-acts not even one of them
mentioned it,
- A detective added
incriminating words to the
teacher’s police statements,
- A police-church
panel in December 1975 concluded no
abuse occurred, and
- During the 1989 to
’93 government inquiry and trials,
former school residents who have
evidence that no abuse occurred were
not asked to testify.
This new information should be the
basis of a new trial to determine if the
seven convicted teachers are innocent
and if the large compensation payments
to the accusing men were fraudulently
obtained.
Mount Cashel
daily life:
Important evidence comes from 43
year-old teacher Leonard Gomes whose
mother was from St. John’s and father
was a black U.S. Navy seaman. Gomes
first entered the 65 year-old 3-story
brick complex, located on a hill
overlooking St. John's, in 1963 at age
7. Said Gomes "It was home to over
100 boys from broken or dysfunctional
families and 8 Christian Brother
teachers. We all thought of ourselves as
one big family.”
- Gomes with a
younger student in 1975 beside the
- main entrance
to the 3-story Mount Cashel
school.
Each of the six different groups of
from 12 to 15 similar-aged boys spent
almost their entire time, outside of
summer vacations, with the Brother to
whom they were assigned. "We
studied, did chores, played sports,
showered, and prepared for bed each
night as a group," says Gomes.
"There was warmth and affection
between the boys and their Brother.”
- Gomes before
bed in one of the communal dorms
- where the boys
felt of themselves as one big
family.
Discipline of
rebellious boys:
“However those who disturbed others
or broke the rules were disciplined,”
Gomes said. "I was hit with a
leather strap on both hands only once,
however disrespectful boys could have
received 2 or 3 straps per hand after
severe misconduct. A few times boys were
strapped on their bare behinds. This was
accepted discipline in St. John's
schools up to the 1980's.
Gomes emphasized "In 1975 as a
19 year-old dorm supervisor I was with
many of the boys 7 days a week. Because
I was young enough to be one-of-them,
the boys told me everything that
happened. No one ever told me they were
sexually touched and I never heard any
rumors that the boys were being touched
by any Brothers."
Sexual
touching investigated by police:
In December 1975, 12 year-old Bobby
Connors and 11 year-old Billy
Earle jokingly told a part-time
janitor that Brothers English and Ralph
were coming to their rooms at night and
“feeling them up”. The janitor
phoned Billy Earle’s mother, and on
December 7th she told the police that
Billy and his 9 year-old brother Shane
may have been sexually abused.
On December 8th Billy and Shane Earle
gave local Detective Robert Hillier a
list of boys they said were also abused.
On December 11th the detective gave a
list to Superintendent Brother Kenny at
the Reform home, who arranged to
transport the boys in small groups to
the police station for interviews. From
December 12th to 14th, Detective Hillier
and an assistant interviewed 20 boys,
one at a time, and wrote ½ page
statements, that most of the boys
signed.
The boys described everything from
stroking genitals to masturbation in the
sleeping dorms, TV room, swimming pool,
and head office.
- All areas
including the ping-pong room were
always accessible.
- With 100 boys
and Brothers walking in and out of
the rooms it would
- have been
impossible for a Brother to
continually
- sexually touch
the boys without being seen.
Private
touching was impossible in well-lit
communal dorms:
In their police statements, six out
of the 20 boys aged 9 to 16 described
Brother Ralph “feeling” or
“rubbing” their backs, legs, or
“private parts”, while he tucked
them into bed in the communal dorms. A 9
year-old adds, “All the boys were
watching, and we were having a big
laugh.” Three other boys, aged 10 to
14, alleged sexual stroking by English
at bedtime. An 11 year-old said, “I
have seen Brother English doing this to
lots of boys”.
Gomes responds: “With 12 bunk beds
lining the walls of each of the 6 small
dormitory rooms, any sexual touching
would have been seen by 10 to 15 boys
who would have told me or another
Brother about it immediately, and I was
never told anything.
The only reason boys would have been
rubbed by a Brother at bedtime was for
medical reasons. If a boy was keeping
others awake by coughing, or was sick,
the Brother could have rubbed Vapor Rub
on his chest. Also some boys wet the
bed, so their sheets were checked before
the lights were turned off.”
- One of 12 bunk
beds of one of the 2nd story
communal dorms where any
sexual touching by the Brother
before bed with the light on would
have been seen
by all the other boys, and Gomes
never heard any sex-abuse stories.
Private
feeling was impossible in the well-lit
communal TV room:
Five boys, from 11 to 17, described
Brother English “feeling” their
“private parts” in the TV room, and
them being forced to feel his
“privates” in the dark.
Gomes says: “The TV was only turned
on for ½ to 1 hour during the evenings
after dinner, and there was always a
group of at least 20 watching with a
light on. With 100 boys and 8 Brothers
walking in and out all day long, it was
as if the TV room and all other rooms
had glass walls. If the Brothers were
planning to molest they would not have
chosen visible locations where many
other people could have been
watching.”
Gomes comments are reinforced by
studies which show that older men who
molest children always try to ensure
absolutely no one sees them, for they
know witnesses will expose their
criminal act.
- Gomes with
boys and one of the house-dogs in
the well-lit TV room
- where secret
sexual abuse during TV time would
have been impossible.
Private
sex-touching could not have occurred
without boys reacting:
62 year-old St. John’s insurance
salesman Don O”Keefe was resident at
the school in the 1950’s, and was
assisting 4 times a week when the
alleged abuse occurred. “If any
Brother had sexually touched strong 12
year-olds like Billy Earle, Bobby
Connors, or any of their friends, they
would have pulled away and yelled very
loud. I saw those boys in 1975
physically fight, and even throw things
at Brothers. When I went to school I
yelled at the Brothers a few times. It
is impossible these things occurred
without other boys doing something like
yelling or telling either myself or
another Brother about it.”
- 12
to 16 year-old boys were
physically strong so that if any
Brother
- tried
to sexually touch them they would
have yelled, hit the Brother,
- or
immediately told their friends and
supervisors like Gomes.
Sex-tale was
impossible as boys never allowed in
Brother’s residence:
The most lurid tale was from 17 year
old Leo Rice, who said Brother English
“got me in his room (where he) got me
in bed with him,…got on top of
me,…and (masturbated) on my
stomach.”
Gomes says “English slept with the
other Brothers in a separate building
extension on the 2nd or 3rd floor that
was strictly ‘out of bounds’ to the
boys. If any boy was seen in the
residence, the affected Brother and boy
would have been in serious trouble. Leo
Rice and Billy Earle were good friends
who were continually getting into
trouble.”
- Supervisor
Brother Kenny in the middle in the
dining room. The Brother’s
sleeping rooms
were in a separate area with it’s
own entrance, where boys were
forbidden to enter by severe
penalties. So Leo Rice could not
have entered
English’s room where he alleges
abuse.
Private
kissing could not have occurred as
office had a glass wall:
Superintendent Kenny was a strict
disciplinarian who like Brothers Ralph
and English talked with trouble-makers
and for severe offences would strike
their hands with the strap. Three boys
said Kenny forced them to bite his
tongue and neck and to kiss his lips on
the swimming pool deck and in his office
when no one was watching.
O’Keefe answers, “Kenny’s
office was on the main floor in the
busiest area of the building, and was
entirely visible from the secretary’s
office and the hallway through a large
glass wall. I looked in the office a
dozen times a day while walking down the
hall, and I never heard stories of
anything like this happening.”
- On deck of the
swimming pool. 12 year-old Billy
Earle is on the right.
- O’Keefe says
if Earle or any of the other boys
were sexually abused
- they would
have told their friends about it
immediately, and the only
- reason they
told no-one was because the abuse
did not occur.
Police
detective wrote words the defendants did
not say:
On December 17th, 2 days after
questioning the 20 boys, Hillier talked
with Ralph and English. After being
asked by Hillier if he ever touched any
of the boy's penises, Ralph wrote and
signed a statement which said "(For
4 boys) all I did was rub their
backsides, except for Billy Earle I did
touch his penis." Ralph did this
because the Brothers and boys were told
by the outside doctor to report any
itching or skin inflammation in the
crotch area, because this could indicate
fungal infection that would need
immediate treatment before it was
transferred to other boys in the
communal home.
Ralph had inspected Earle's crotch
area a couple of times after a shower.
This did not mean Ralph sexually touched
Earle, yet Hillier changed the meaning
of his statement by writing, "Ralph
admitted to feeling up four boys",
and "he admitted the boys were
telling the truth." Ralph denied
ever saying these things to Hillier
which is strongly supported by Ralph's
written statement.
English gave no written statement but
spoke with Hillier, whose investigative
report written the next day said English
admitted "…what these boys stated
in their statements is true."
English vehemently denied ever saying
anything like this.
The changes by Hillier of the 1975
Brother's statements were not submitted
to the 1989 to '93 Court trials as they
were not found by the author until 1994.
Why would Hillier change the meaning
of Ralph's written statement and also
falsify English's verbal statement? My
1994 interview with Hillier showed that
from the moment the investigation
started he believed the boys were
molested and did not want his superiors
to take him off the case or halt the
investigation, so he wrote statements
which indicated the Brothers were
guilty!
Christian
officials and Police conclude the boys
had lied:
On December 17th, after hearing of
the boy’s allegations and speaking
with English and Ralph, Christian
Brother officials from St. John’s and
Toronto had a long meeting with St.
John’s police. They reviewed the
personal history of each boy and showed
they were all friends who had lied to
protect each other in the past and had
been strapped by the Brothers they
named. They realized it was impossible
for many of the allegations to have
occurred and saw numerous contradictions
in the boy’s statements.
The Christian officials and police
both decided the best way to prevent
more problems was to move English and
Ralph and other Brothers named by the
boys out of St. John’s. The
investigation was ended, with Ralph
going to Vancouver, Kenny to Toronto,
and English to the West Indies.
The investigation was ended, however
Hillier's written statements were kept
on-file and were later used at the 1990
to '92 trials.
Cash payments
induce lawyers and ‘victims’ to
start court proceedings:
As an aftermath of the 1988 trials of
two St. John's Catholic Priests of
having mutually agreeable secret affairs
with two 16 and 17 year old boys, the
joint federal-provincial 'Crimes
Compensation Program' was
announced in April 1989.
Immediately after this announcement
at least 12 of the St. John’s boys
talked with each other and lawyers
before they went to the media and police
and demanded government compensation.
After graphic Mount Cashel sex-abuse
stories were printed in St. John's
newspapers the 1989 Hughes Royal
Commission was set-up to hear testimony
from the alleged 1975 victims, but
without rebuttal by the named Brothers
or their lawyers. This was televised
live in St. John's and was continually
commented on in the local media.
Police or
lawyers do not follow-up on witnesses
who said boys were lying:
Two police detectives talked with
Gomes for two hours in his rented
basement apartment. When he insisted he
never heard of any sexual touching and
none could have occurred without him
knowing, they accused him of lying and
pressured him to change his story. When
this failed they left and never called
him again.
Gomes testified at one trial in 1991
but was only allowed to describe the
locations of the dorm rooms, the TV
room, the offices, and the swimming
pool. He was not asked or allowed to
state his opinion about the alleged
charges.
O’Keefe likewise talked to the
police at his house, but when he
insisted he never saw or heard of any
abuse and it could not have occurred
without him or other leaders knowing, he
was never contacted again by the police
or lawyers for any of the accused.
No sex charges
for 40 years before 1975:
O’Keefe wondered in 1994 why
allegations were restricted to the
1970’s. “Not one of the thousands of
graduates from the 1930’s to the
60’s alleged that even one Brother had
sexually abused them. Then in 1975, 20
good friends from broken homes who had
disciplinary problems alleged that 7 of
the 8 Brothers were abusing them. The
law of averages says this could not
occur!”
Later in 1995 over 12 former students
from the 1960’s who all lived in St.
John’s receiving welfare, also alleged
sex-abuse and since then have received
large cash settlements.
Former Mount
Cashel residents fear for their safety:
I spoke with other former Mount
Cashel residents who also strongly
believe the boys are lying, but will not
talk to police for fear their families
may be physically harmed by the accusers
or their friends, who all frequent the
same beer-parlors in St. John's and are
making considerable money from the
alleged fraud.
Seven of the 8
Brothers convicted and jailed:
The trials of 7 Brothers were held
from 1990 to 1992, where the alleged
victims repeated and enlarged their
stories. English was found guilty and
received 12 years. Superintendent Kenny
received 5 years and Ralph 4 years.
Brothers Short and French mentioned
in the 1975 statements, and Burke and
Rooney not mentioned in 1975, were all
convicted and sentenced to 2 years each.
At Burke’s 1992 trial, the judge
was told the crown’s star witness,
Shane Earle, had changed his
testimony 27 times, yet the
verdict was guilty. In total 7 out of 8
Mount Cashel 1975 Brothers were
convicted of sexual abuse and jailed.
The convictions and cash payments are
continuing. In August, 1998 Brother
Barry was convicted of indecent assault
during the 1960’s at Mount Cashel and
sentenced to 3 years.
Trials of Mount Cashel alleged
sex-abuse from the 1960’s and 1970’s
have now resulted in over 42 alleged
‘victims’ receiving large cash
settlements.
Cash payments
to alleged ‘victims’
In 1996 Garry Brinston was the first
of 20 alleged Mount Cashel victims from
1975, and 20 other ones from the
1960’s, to go through civil
compensation court. He received a
rumored $600,000 from the Newfoundland
government, and since then at least 19
other boys have received a rumored
$300,000 to $700,000 each.
The government is now working to
re-coup the money from the Church. In
early 1999 Vancouver College and
St.Thomas More Schools in B.C. will
fight in court to prevent their
properties from being sold by a
liquidator acting for the Newfoundland
government that is trying to replace the
millions of dollars it has paid to the
40 men and their lawyers.
O’Keefe and
Gomes conclude 20 good friends lied in
1975:
O’Keefe said “In 1975 this group
of 20 tough street-wise kids who had a
history of lying to cover-up for each
other and disturbing other students,
lied about being sexually abused to get
revenge on Brothers English, Ralph, and
Kenny for giving them the strap. And
then 14 years later in 1989 they sought
to obtain large compensation payments by
repeating these lies to the media,
police, and courts.”
Gomes finished “Throughout the
world the name Mount Cashel has become
synonymous with institutional child
abuse. In 1989 it was the first church
sex abuse case that all others copied. I
knew every boy at the school and no
abuse occurred. In 1989 the men all lied
to make money, and I don’t think
it’s too late to expose these lies!”
TV show
describing sex-abuse by nuns results in
alleged ‘victims’:
During the 1989 Hughes Inquiry
and later trials newspaper and TV
stories described unproven sex-abuse
claims, and TV documentaries vividly
showed how the abuse supposedly
occurred. CBC radio and TV continually
repeated the most lurid allegations
without including replies from the
accused.
The 1992 movie "The Boys of St.
Vincent", was based entirely on the
Mount Cashel sex-abuse charges and
almost everyone in St. John's and Canada
who saw it knew this. The media, and
especially the CBC, generated a
'pre-judged' atmosphere where the
accused could not have received a fair
trial.
An example of how media-generated
guilt works was with a February, 1997
St. John's documentary that described
alleged sex-abuse in the 1960's by the
teaching-nuns at Belvedere girl's
school. After the documentary 6 former
students contacted police. However the
women's stories of gentle, humble older
nuns sexually molesting the strong,
vibrant young girls while not one of the
girls told either their friends or
parents about it at the time, were not
believed. The story was quietly dropped
by the media.
Cash payments
induce sex-abuse allegations across
Canada and the U.S.:
The publicity generated by the Victim
Compensation program, the Mount
Cashel 1989 Inquiry, and resulting
trials prompted alleged ‘victims’ to
demand money for similar incidents at
Catholic reform homes, Anglican homes,
Native residential schools, and choir
schools.
At St. Joseph’s Training School
for homeless boys outside Ottawa, over
25 Catholic teachers were charged. In
Prescott, Ontario, more than 50 people
were charged with molesting more than
200 victims going back to the 1940’s.
In each case large cash settlements were
paid to alleged victims.
One choir teacher in Ontario was
convicted even though it was proven in
court that 3 of his accusers continually
changed their stories and talked with
each other about the money they could
make before going to the police.
From 1989 to ’98 over 100 Christian
officials in Canada, and over 400 in the
U.S., have so far been convicted of
molesting boys or girls they taught,
which has resulted in large cash
payments by governments and churches.
Native
Residential Schools and Mount Cashel
stories similar:
Many accusations are suspiciously
similar to the Mount Cashel allegations.
B.C. Natives from the now closed St.
Joseph’s residential school at
Williams Lake said they watched Catholic
teachers sexually molest boys in their
bunks in communal dormitories when they
were being “tucked in”, and in large
open shower stalls.
One girl alleged when she played
catcher during baseball games the
teacher-umpire would continually put his
hand beside her pants and rub her
“private parts” without anyone
noticing, which could almost certainly
not have happened.
The B.C. court convictions were also
followed by large compensation payments.
The new
evidence should be the basis of a new
trial:
The above new evidence together with
other evidence and documents held by the
author should be presented to a new
trial to determine if the 20 former
Mount Cashel residents lied during 1989
to '93 criminal trials and then lied
again during later civil trials to
fraudulently obtain government
compensation payments.
 By:
John C. Ball - Author and Geologist
- Research: In St.
John’s during 1993, ’94, and
’95.
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