Retired priest acquitted of indecent assault at Sagkeeng residential school By: Erik Pindera Posted: 3:43 PM CDT Thursday, Mar. 30, 2023

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This article was published 30/03/2023 (919 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A retired Catholic priest has been acquitted of an indecent assault on an Indigenous girl at Fort Alexander Residential School more than 50 years ago — the only case of alleged abuse that resulted from a decade-long probe in which 80 Manitoba Mounties contacted 700 people.

However, the outcome is not the end to the saga, as RCMP said Thursday they are investigating complaints filed since the priest was charged last year.

Victoria McIntosh, 63, and Arthur Massé, 93, were the only witnesses called during a two-day, judge-only trial earlier this month at the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench. McIntosh had alleged she was assaulted by Massé in a bathroom at the former Sagkeeng First Nation school sometime between 1968 and 1970, when she was around 10.

On Thursday, Justice Candace Grammond said she believed the woman had been assaulted but wasn’t convinced based on McIntosh’s testimony the accused was the person who did so.

“I accept that the complainant was assaulted in a washroom at the residential school in the manner that she described,” Grammond told court, as loved ones hugged McIntosh.

Massé looked forward without visible emotion at the judge as she read her verdict, while McIntosh turn her head downward to her lap. About a dozen supporters of McIntosh sat in the small courtroom’s spectator gallery, some wearing orange Every Child Matters shirts.

“I have concluded that when taken as a whole, her identification of the accused was not sufficiently reliable to convince me beyond a reasonable doubt that he perpetrated the indecent assault upon her,” Grammond said.

The judge noted part of how McIntosh identified the assailant was by his priest’s collar, but multiple priests worked at the school.

Massé was an administrator and teacher at the school from 1966 to 1970. McIntosh lived at the residential school from 1965 to 1970.

The school, which opened in 1905 and closed in 1970, was run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Catholic religious order of which Massé was a member.

McIntosh had alleged at trial the accused picked her up, pinned her against the wall, fondled her over her clothes and roughly kissed her in an assault that lasted about a minute, before he told her not to tell anyone.

“I have concluded that when taken as a whole, her identification of the accused was not sufficiently reliable to convince me beyond a reasonable doubt that he perpetrated the indecent assault upon her.”–Justice Candace Grammond

At trial, Massé denied having committed the assault and said he did not recall interacting with McIntosh when she was a student. He did not speak with reporters after the verdict.

McIntosh first reported the assault to RCMP in 2015, two years after she said a meeting about a residential school settlement claim with the federal government triggered memories of the incident.

She did not speak with the media as she left the courthouse Thursday.

A supporter, Melissa Morrisseau, told reporters there was “no justice.”

“We saw the results today,” Morrisseau said. “She’s not the only one that this happened to.”

Massé was charged with one count of indecent assault in June 2022.

RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel confirmed Thursday more people had come forward to Mounties with complaints against Massé since he was charged.

Police didn’t reveal the number of people who came forward, nor have further charges been laid. “The investigation is ongoing,” said Seel.

Crown prosecutor Danielle Simard did not speak with the media Thursday.

A provincial spokesman, speaking on behalf of the Manitoba Prosecution Service, said the Crown will take time to review the case.

“Nothing has been determined at this time,” the spokesman said, when asked whether there are plans to appeal the acquittal.

The massive probe into Fort Alexander involved 80 investigators, who had contact with more than 700 people and recorded 75 witness and victim statements, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Manaigre said last year.

The school, which took students from about a dozen First Nations, had a reputation for abuse — survivors told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada they were starved, sexually abused and disciplined harshly.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said it expresses its support to McIntosh and recognizes her “tremendous courage” in testifying.

“We know that victims of assault are often reluctant to come forward because they feel that they are somehow responsible for the attack, and it is alarming to see another victim denied justice for the unimaginable harms experienced in those institutions,” Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said Thursday in a statement.

”This sets a concerning precedent for how the courts hold offenders of these atrocities accountable. A larger conversation must happen with government and First Nations leadership to hold these people responsible while we still can.”

Southern Chiefs’ Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said he extends his prayers to McIntosh and commends her bravery.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca