Canadian court awards $1.3 million to brothers abused by priest

Published: 2004-02-06

LONDON, Ontario (CNS) -- A London family whose three sons were abused by a diocesan priest has been awarded more than $1.3 million (US$972,000) in damages for pain and suffering. In a Feb. 2 ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice John Kerr found Father Barry Glendinning and the Diocese of London liable for the suffering of the Swales family. Evidence showed that Father Glendinning abused the three Swales brothers from 1969 to 1974. At the time, Father Glendinning was a professor at London's St. Peter's Seminary. The assaults first came to the attention of then-London Bishop John Sherlock in 1999, and according to a statement from the diocese, the bishop met with the brothers and expressed his deepest apologies. The family and the diocese could not reach a settlement, so the family filed suit. Father Glendinning pleaded guilty to criminal charges of gross indecency in 1974. He was treated at the Southdown Institute in Aurora, Ontario, and is now retired and living in Toronto.

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