Sexual abuse in St. John's archdiocese
Several cases of sexual abuse in St. John's archdiocese have been reported, starting in 1988. It is an important chapter in the series of clerical abuse affairs that occurred in the dioceses of Canada. James Hickey affair In September 1988, Fr. James Hickey pleaded guilty to 20 charges of sexual assault, gross indecency and indecent assault involving teenage boys while he was a parish priest on the Burin Peninsula and in the St. John's area. He spent five years in prison, serving his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, and Dorchester Penitentiary, NB. Despite Hickey's criminal conviction, archdiocese leaders fought against the victims' lawsuits demanding damages for over 20 years. Hickey, the first priest convicted in a sexual-abuse scandal, died in 1992. In February 2009, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled that the Archdiocese of St. John's was "vicariously liable" for the sexual abuse of eight former altar boys by Hickey. Mount Cashel orphanage scandal In 1988, a scandal erupted over allegations of widespread abuse of children at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland. From 1989 to 1993, nine Christian Brothers were charged and prosecuted for various criminal offences including sex offences against the boys of Mount Cashel