Mount Cashel Orphanage

• In October 1974, two boys, Johnny Williams and Derek O'Brien, who were both residents of the orphanage were taken to NL's Department of social services by a female relative of Williams. The boy's complained to the department that a Christian Brother had beat Williams. The boys further alleged that some of the Christian Brothers working at Mount Cashel were sexually and physically abusing resident boys at the facility.[2]
• In September 1975, two boys, ten-year-old Billy Earle and his friend ten-year-old Bobby Connors were taken to NL's Department of Social Services, after being beaten by a Christian Brother. The two boys told social workers that physical and sexual abuse is common at the orphanage.
• In October 1975, the two social workers inform the head of the department of the allegations of sexual and physical abuse reported to them by two boys, Billy Earle and Bobby Conners.
• On December 7, 1975, a volunteer working at the orphanage suspects that Billy Earle's younger brother Shane was beaten by a Christian Brother. The RCMP is contacted, and the younger Earle boy, who is still sporting fresh bruises from the recent beating is interviewed. The boy reports instances of sexual and physical abuse at the orphanage.
• On December 8, 1975, the volunteer reports the beating to NL's Department of Social Services, who take the beaten boy to hospital. A doctor reports the abuse to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC).
• On December 9, 1975 the RNC open an investigation into abuse at the orphanage. During the following weeks, police interview 24 boys living at the facility, and learn that almost all the boys report being sexually abused and beaten by Christian Brothers.
• On December 17, 1975, police interview two of the Orphanage's Christian Brothers, who confess to child molestation.
• On December 18, 1975, the Chief of Police for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary orders the investigation into sexual abuse at the orphanage closed. The police officer, who conducted the interviews with the 24 children and two Christian Brothers is told to destroy his report, and re-write another report without using any references to sex abuse. The police officer complies with the Chief's demand, and writes a report implicating the Christian Brothers in physical abuse only.[3]
• In late December 1975, the two Christian Brothers, who confessed to sexually abusing children under their care, are transferred to the United States "for treatment."
• In January1976, NL's primary newspaper, "The Evening Telegram," learns of the allegations of sexual abuse at the orphanage. Two NL journalists investigate the allegations, and prepare to break the news, however, the then publisher, kills the story and prevents it from going to press.
• On March 3, 1976, NL's Justice Department, orders the Chief of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, to tell the police officer, who was in charge of the sexual abuse investigation, to produce another report on his investigation, and to omit any references of sex.
• On January 26, 1977, after reviewing the two police reports of abuse in relation to the Mount Cashel Orphanage, NL's Deputy Minister of Justice, tells the Chief of Police that further police action is unwarranted, and the sexual abuse investigation into Mount Cashel Orphanage is officially closed.
• On April 10, 1979, a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary police officer is testifying at an inquiry unrelated to Mount Cashel Orphanage. The police officer states that the RNC police have previously been involved in various police cover-ups, and cites the Mount Cashel Orphanage sexual abuse allegations as an example.
• In 1982, NL's Department of Social Services informed the RNC police of another report of sexual abuse from Mount Cashel Orphanage. The police investigate, and a Christian Brother is charged and prosecuted for molestation. The Brother is sentenced to four months in prison, followed by three years probation, however his sentence is reduced by a NL judge to 12 days time served, and his probation period is wiped clean.
• On February 3, 1989, a concerned citizen calls into a NL open-line radio program and demands a public inquiry into the 1975 RNC investigation into the sexual abuse allegations at Mount Cashel Orphanage. The caller alleges to the Newfoundland and Labrador public, who are listening to the radio program, that police and government officials had covered-up sex abuse at the orphanage.
• On February 15, 1989, Lynn Verge NL's then Minister of Justice announces that the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has re-opened its 1975 investigation into sexual abuse allegations at the orphanage. Fourteen years, after police had first learned of the abuse.
• On March 19, 1989, then twenty one-year-old, Shane Earle, the boy who had previously been beaten and sexually abused at the orphanage; and, who reported that abuse to NL authorities, goes public by telling the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel Orphanage to Michael Harris, a well-known Canadian investigative journalist, who publishes Earle's story in the Sunday Express Newspaper.
• On April 14, 1989, the NL government announces a public inquiry into the handling of the 1975 investigation by police, social services and its justice department.
• In November 1989, The Christian Brothers of NL, announce that the Mount Cashel Orphanage would be closing, and the approximate remaining 70 residents would be placed in community foster care.
• Throughout 1989-1993, nine Christian Brothers are charged and prosecuted for various criminal offences including sex offences against the boys of Mount Cashel orphanage.[4][5]

In June 1989, the Hughes inquiry began hearings in St. John's NL, and heard from dozens of witnesses over two years, making its report public in April 1992. It found that the Christian Brothers, who operated the Mount Cashel Orphanage, should have been charged with crimes in relation to the reports of abuse from resident boys of the home in 1975. The commission also found that the Department of Justice had interfered with the police investigation. Commissioner Hughes recommended that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador establish a compensation fund for the abuse victims, although no size limit was discussed nor were recommendations provided on counselling services to the victims.

In addition to the sexual and physical abuses highlighted by the inquiry, it was also learned that Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Sargent, Aurther Pike, had received a demotion and a decrease in pay for leaking information in 1979 concerning the police cover-up of Mount Cashel.[6][7]

• In April 1989, Shane Earle, filed a civil lawsuit against the NL government and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's.

A demolition ball is seen smashing into the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's NL, Circa 1992

• In 1990, Shane Earle appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, where he detailed his story of abuse at Mount Cashel Orphanage to an American audience.[8]
• In 1990, Michael Harris released, "Unholy Orders: tragedy at Mount Cashel" [9] a non-fiction book in relation to the Mount Cashel sexual abuse scandal.[10]
• In 1991, Derek O'Brien released, "Suffer Little Children: An autobiography of a foster child," which detailed the abuse he suffered as a child growing up as a ward of the state, in Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Social Services.[11]
• In 1992, "The Boy's of St. Vincent,"[12] a made for television docudrama, based on events inspired by the Mount Cashel Orphanage was released on Canadian television.
• On April 5, 1992, the Christian Brothers formally apologized to the victims of sexual and physical abuse at the Mount Cashel Orphanage.
• In July 1992, the Mount Cashel Orphanage was demolished.[13]
• In 2022, an episode of the CBC television series Son of a Critch discussed the real-time impact that the initial revelations of the orphanage had on Newfoundland society in the 1980s.

The Supreme Court of NL is shown from Water Street, St. John's, NL

In 1997, in response to the Hughes Inquiry, and facing dozens of civil lawsuits, the NL government acknowledged its responsibility as a result of having sent children to the Mount Cashel Orphanage, and paid a settlement of 11.25 million dollars to approximately 40 former residents of Mount Cashel, who were victims of sexual and physical abuse. The provincial government then began a process of seeking to reclaim the award from the assets of the Christian Brothers.[14][15][16]

After demolition of the Mount Cashel Orphanage, the Christian Brothers sold the land to property developers for 8 million dollars, which was paid to Mount Cashel victims, after a court ordered settlement agreement.

In December 2000 The StarPhoenix reported that leaders of the Christian Brothers at the Vatican conspired to transfer ownership of the order's assets out of Canada to prevent court-ordered liquidation to pay compensation to sexual and physical abuse victims.[17]

From 1996 to 2004 approximately $27 million in compensation was paid to roughly 100 victims of physical and sexual abuse at the Mount Cashel Orphanage by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Christian Brothers of Ireland in Canada.[18]

In 2011, the Christian Brothers declared bankruptcy, leaving approximately 422 outstanding sex abuse claims against the organization.[19]

In 2018, the NL government admitted liability for a social worker, who took a child from Mount Cashel Orphanage to his home to sexually assault him.[20] The NL government paid 750, 000 to settle a claim brought by forward by the victim. The NL government acknowledged that is was still facing approximately 75 civil suits in relation to the Mount Cashel sexual abuse scandal.[21][22]

In July 2020, the Newfoundland and Labrador count of appeal unanimously reversed a 2018 decision of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and ruled that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's was vicariously liable for the sexual abuse committed at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in the 1950's and 1960's, paving the way for victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal to receive compensation from the Diocese.[23][24][25]

In February 2021, a British Columbia man alleged that he was sexually abused by one of the Christian Brother's, who confessed to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary of molesting children at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in 1975.[26]

In July 2021, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of NL announced plans to sell off assets in order to compensate victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal.[27]

St. Ninian's Cathedral, Antigonish, NS

On September 25, 2009, the former Roman Catholic Bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, was charged with importing child pornography into Canada. Raymond Lahey, a NL born priest, was entering Canada, via the Ottawa International Airport, when his laptop was seized by Canadian Border Services during a routine inspection.[28] The arrest sparked anger in NL, and two former residents of the Mount Cashel Orphanage came forward claiming that the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, had been informed that Lahey had been in possession of child pornography, twenty years previous in NL.[29] Shane Earle, the young boy, who was beaten and reported being sexually abused at Mount Cashel Orphanage, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) he had testified about it during the Hughe's inquiry.[30] Earle was subsequently contacted by the RNC, who informed him that they were investigating the claim that Lahey had previously been in possession of child pornography in NL. The provincial police force stated they were reviewing audio and video records of interviews with victims and offenders from their investigation of sex abuse at the Mount Cashel orphanage, but were unable to find any evidence to support the allegations that Lahey had been in possession of child pornography in 1980's NL.[31] However, several days later, on October 5, Church officials in NL, acknowledged that they themselves were made aware of child pornography allegations against Lahey in 1989.[32]

Lahey was convicted of possessing child pornography in a Nova Scotia court in 2012.[33][34]

There are approximately 100 known victims of sexual and physical abuse stemming from the Mount Cashel Orphanage.[35] Most victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal are identified as a numbered "John Doe," example,(John Doe #56, John Doe #34).

In 1993, Johnny Williams, who was 15 years-old, when he went to police in 1975 to report abuse at the orphanage, died at the age of 39, due to medical issues. His sister said, he died in much the same way he lived his life, 'in pain and alone.' Johnny's twin brother, Jerome Williams, also a former resident at Mount Cashel, died by suicide.[36]

In 1994, the CBC released "The unforgiven: Mount Cashel, five years later," a documentary that profiled several of Mount Cashel's victims.[37]

In 2013, William (Billy) Earle, the brother of Shane Earle, and sexual abuse survivor at Mount Cashel Orphanage, was denied victim services counselling by the NL government.[38][39][40]

The Mount Cashel Monument located on the site of the former Mount Cashel property, in St. John's, NL.

The Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal is largely credited for exposing sex abuse within the Catholic Church throughout Canada, the United States and the world.[41][42][43][44]

In November 2014, Gemma Hickey, a sexual abuse survivor, who suffered abuse at the hands of Clergy, founded The Pathways Foundation,[45] a non-profit organization that helps to promote healing and prevent future abuse and misconduct within religious institutions from reoccurring.

In June 2015, Hickey began a 900 kilometre walk across the province of NL to raise awareness and support for victims of sexual abuse at religious institutions.[46][47]

A small monument dedicated to the victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal sits on the property which was once home to the Mount Cashel Orphanage.[48]

In 2015, the feature film "Spotlight," was released to critical acclaim, and would go on to be nominated for 6 Academy Awards including best picture. The film was based on true life events, surrounding investigative journalists from the Boston Globe, who's reporting led to the discovery of widespread and systematic sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

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