Legate and Associates has initiated lawsuits on behalf of 31
women sexually assaulted by Father Charles Sylvestre, while he served as a
Roman Catholic priest in Windsor, Bluewater, Chatham and
Mr. Sylvestre pled guilty in the fall of 2006 to sexually abusing youth while he was a priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of London from the 1950s to the 1980s. He died at Kingston Penitentiary on January 23, 2007 while serving a three year sentence.
Since the criminal conviction and Sylvestre’s death, women who were sexually abused by Sylvestre are continuing to come forward to launch lawsuits.
The lawsuits also name the Diocese of London, the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board, the St.
Clair Catholic District School Board, the French Catholic School Board for
southwestern
In December 2006
the Diocese of London released police interview records from 1962. The records are statements provided by young
girls in Bluewater, Ontario to the Sarnia Police Force about sexual assault
each experienced by Sylvestre. Before
the release of the statements in December 2006 the Diocese denied knowing
anything about Sylvestre’s abuse of children when it posted him at parishes
throughout southwestern
Through litigation, Legate and Associates is obtaining answers to its clients many questions about what steps were and were not taken by all defendants to ensure that their parishioners, students, and the public were protected from Sylvestre.