George's) continues to contest the case related to Smith. While he's glad to see the buildings sold, he's been frustrated with the difference in strategy on the west coast, where the Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador (formerly St. It's expected victims will begin getting paid before the end of the year. John's sold off church properties to pay victims on the east coast. He's watched with mixed feelings as the Archdiocese of St. Each time a court date comes, or a story is published, he feels deflated again. John Doe has spent the last 12 years being interrupted by court proceedings and news stories. Well, I didn't and I know I didn't do anything wrong, but you find yourself thinking sometimes." 'Please stop' John Doe was likely the first victim - a haunting thought still dogging him today. He held my hand and I just lowered my head."Ī judge would call his crimes "abhorrent, abominable, cruel and detestable," noting the victims were mostly pubescent or pre-pubescent boys and Smith had considerable control over them and their families. "The first time I saw one of them, I walked in the courtroom and this guy was sitting there. "Some of them were my friends, and I didn't even realize they were involved," John Doe said. Doe said Smith, during court proceedings, had zero remorse for his heinous crimes. He came to learn later on that his friends were also abused. ![]() WATCH | A man who was abused starting when he was six years old describes the moment he realized he knew other victims:ĭuration 0:46 Featured VideoA complainant we must describe as John Doe was six years old when he was first abused by Father George Smith. Many were from small towns in rural parts of western Newfoundland. Smith has been convicted twice since then, with 14 victims coming forward in total. "I knew then something had to happen … but I knew it wasn't going to happen overnight." It was the first time he'd ever said it out loud. John Doe went to a friend and told him he had also been abused. That lasted until 2011, when he was on the way to pick up his friend for lunch and heard a story on the radio that sent him reeling. John Doe went through life dealing with the abuse the best way he knew how - silently. "It was hard to say that you're being sodomized when you're six or seven years old." A revelation, and a nagging guilt "To this day I can't admit some of the stuff that happened to me," he said. Today, John Doe says there's still things he's never told the RCMP or the court because he couldn't form the words to describe the abuse. His experiences were among the worst suffered by a boy at the hands of a Catholic priest in the province's history. He would later tell a court about how the first instance of abuse happened while they were praying together. ![]() The family had no suspicions, not so much as a whisper of wrongdoing, when Smith began inviting John Doe to spend the night. His aunt worked with Smith at his residence in Corner Brook, and the boy would often go with her. John Doe grew up in a devout family, where the parish priest was second only to God. He thought closure might come from a civil lawsuit, so he sought to hold the church responsible for the abuse he endured.īut nine years later, John Doe is still waiting for a conclusion.Īs the Catholic church nears a massive settlement with hundreds of men on Newfoundland's east coast, those who were victimized on the other side of the island are still fighting. He served a fraction of that time and was released in 2016. Smith was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 11 years in prison. (CBC)Ĭlosure didn't come after the criminal case. Smith, a defrocked former priest on Newfoundland's west coast, was convicted of abusing more than a dozen kids.
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