New Brunswick sex-abuse ruling sets record as more victims sue their tormentors

FREDERICTON — Canadian lawyers are applauding a precedent-setting judgment for decades-old child abuse in New Brunswick, saying it’s an important moment as more sex-abuse victims come forward to seek justice.

A 52-year-old woman was awarded $188,914 by the Court of Queen’s Bench, including $125,000 for pain and suffering.

“It knocked my socks off,” said Rob Talach, a London, Ont.-based injury lawyer, who deals with sexual assault cases across Canada.

He said until the July ruling, the ceiling for such awards in New Brunswick was $50,000.

“If you can imagine your worst nightmare of sexual crime and that would only yield $50,000 in the pain and suffering category. This recent decision bumps that ceiling up to $125,000. It’s a substantial increase,” he said.

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The ruling brings New Brunswick closer to judgments in other provinces, as Canadian courts see increasing numbers of similar cases of victims suing their abusers.

Moncton lawyer Rene LeBlanc said publicity from cases involving the Catholic church and prominent people like Bill Cosby is prompting more people to come forward.

“A lot of people didn’t realize that they have a right to seek civil justice for something that happened to them as children,” he said.  

“I think the press is probably the main driver for this. Now it’s something that’s covered a lot. Before it was something that was swept under the rug in the 1950s and ’60s and so on, and people wouldn’t speak up about it.”

The New Brunswick woman, who cannot be identified, filed the lawsuit against her uncle because of sexual assaults that began when she was eight years old and continued until she was 20.

In his decision, Justice Larry Landry of the Court of Queen’s Bench, said that although the $125,000 in general damages is higher than what is generally awarded in New Brunswick, he believed it was appropriate in this case.

“The duration and repercussions of the sexual assaults quite simply destroyed the plaintiff’s childhood and much of her adult life as well. She is suffering the consequences and continues to need therapy to this day,” he wrote.

Talach said New Brunswick is still well behind provinces like Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia, where similar cases would result in awards of about $300,000.

In 1978, The Supreme Court of Canada said such awards should be consistent across the country.

“The amounts of such awards should not vary greatly from one part of the country to another. Everyone in Canada, wherever he may reside, is entitled to a more or less equal measure of compensation for similar non-pecuniary loss,” the court wrote in the decision of Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd.

LeBlanc said many abuse victims now see legal action as a way to deal with what happened to them.

“For many victims there reaches a point where they finally decide to go get help. Sometimes that can be late in life. I’ve had clients in their 70s who only opened up about it at that time,” he said.

Talach said sexual assault cases involving relatives can tear families apart and victims were often encouraged to remain silent.

“To see this coming to public light is very encouraging across the board, because that was the last bastion of silence,” he said.

LeBlanc said the courts have become better educated on the long-term affects of sexual assault, and he believes that will be reflected in future awards.

“The tide seems to be changing, and there seems to be a better recognition by the courts of what the actual affects are. The dollar amounts are going to reflect that, I think, more and more,” he said.

Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press

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