BY KEITH LACEY
A Sudbury man is seeking $4 million in damages against a Roman Catholic priest found guilty almost three years ago of sodomozing him when he was a teenager.
The Toronto Sun reported Thursday, the complainant, now age 33, has spent three days on the stand in the civil trial against Rev. Thomas O?Dell, now age 56.
Calling the former Lively priest?s sexual acts ?depraved and callous?, Justice Robert Boissonneault of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sentenced O?Dell to a federal penitentiary for 30 months in early October 2000. Boissonneault found O?Dell guilty of committing an indecent act and gross indecency following a week-long trial.
Sun court reporter Sam Pazzano wrote the complainant testified Wednesday O?Dell threatened to molest his younger brother if he revealed the abuse.
He also testified O?Dell vowed to expose pornographic photos of the sodomy to silence him.
The plaintiff ? who cannot be named ? is seeking $4 million in damages against the priest.
He?s also suing the Northern Ontario diocese for allegedly concealing the priest?s abuse of other youths.
As he did in the criminal trial, the plaintiff also testified O?Dell stripped him naked, pinned him on the church altar and forced him to perform oral sex during a five-year period in the 1980s.
O?Dell appealed his 30-month sentence after being convicted, but his appeal was denied and he is currently serving his sentence at a penitentiary in Kingston.
He?s eligible for parole within the next couple of months.
Court documents entered at the civil trial show O?Dell admitted he committed acts of gross indecency against two other Sudbury area teenagers under the guise of ?spiritual and personal growth? in the early 1980s.
O?Dell was sentenced to six months in jail in 1992 for crimes against the two youths, who had aspired to be priests.
The plaintiff?s lawyers, Peter Downard and Jennifer McAleer, allege O?Dell is liable for sexual assault and battery and breaching his fiduciary duty to their client. O?Dell?s employer, the diocese, which is not being named to protect the identity of the victim, is ?vicariously liable? for the acts committed by a priest in their employ, says the statement of claim.
?(The diocese) was aware there had beenincidents of sexual assault by priests on children, and failed to take any steps to attempt to prevent further incidents by other priests,? the plaintiff?s lawyers stated.
Defence lawyer Josee Forest-Niesing said the diocese is sympathetic to the plaintiff, but it believes the damages are excessive, remote, beyond the statute of limitations and denies there was any reprehensible conduct on its part.
O?Dell?s victim testified at the criminal trial he was sexually abused by O?Dell from age 10 until age 15 from 1981 to 1986. He was abused dozens of times, but specifically remembered two separate incidents.
At his sentencing hearing, O?Dell told the judge ?with all due respect to you and to your office, I am innocent of these charges.?
Boissonneault said these sexual acts had a ?profoundly devastating effect? on the victim, to the point they ruined his childhood and still haunt him in many ways as a young adult.
The victim suffers from chronic nightmares, acute depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleeping disorders and has had problems with alcohol and holding a job all because of the O?Dell?s actions, he said.
All the evidence presented to him indicated O?Dell is ?a predator? who is not a strong candidate for rehabilitation considering his denials even after being found guilty, said Boissonneault.
At sentencing, defence counsel Victor Vere told court O?Dell voluntarily enrolled in an 11-month church-sponsored counseling and rehabilitation program in New Mexico in 1990, before any allegations of sexual misconduct went before any court.
Since returning from New Mexico and pleading guilty to the 1992 charges, O?Dell had spent nine years living in almost total isolation in a trailer without incident or any involvement with the Catholic church as all his rights and privileges were suspended, said Vere.
?He?s not ministered at any parish since 1990,? said Vere. ?No bishop would have him.?
The vigorous, intensive rehabilitation he received in New Mexico forced O?Dell to deal with his own sexuality and personal problems he was facing, said Vere.
The civil trial continues.
