The law office of Beckett Personal Injury Lawyers over the past two decades has dealt with hundreds of cases of sexual abuse of minors, always representing the victims. In doing so we have learned of some horrid tales of institutional complicity and cover-up. This series is intended to expose that moral corruption to the world. This blog within that series deals with the tale of Father John Edward Sullivan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sudbury and later the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.
Father John Edward Sullivan originally served as a Capuchin Brother but in the early 1950’s was asked to leave the Order due to complaints. He therefore petitioned to train as a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sudbury where he was ordained in 1958. Within two years, by 1960, the Diocese of Sudbury had received several credible complaints of the sexual abuse of boys by Sullivan. First, Sullivan was simply warned but by the second streak of abuses the Diocese actually prosecuted him under Church Canon Law and he was to be defrocked; removed as a priest. Instead of carrying out that sentence though, then Bishop Alexander Carter of the Diocese hide Sullivan for years in Montreal and quietly brought him back into service in 1964. Once back Sullivan carried on abusing young boys in North Bay and the surrounding area. Complaints followed and the situation was so difficult for Sullivan in the Diocese of Sudbury that the Bishop arranged for a transfer to the Archdiocese of Toronto, where his brother, Cardinal Carter was in charge. There is no question that Cardinal Carter knew Sullivan was a sex offender as he posted him to the outer edge of the Archdiocese, a small parish in Midland. Sullivan, true to his evil form, offended again. Ultimately it all caught up with him in 1989 when the Ontario Provincial Police investigated and he was convicted of numerous sex crimes and FINALLY removed from active ministry. He remained a priest through all this until pressure from this office, on behalf of his victims, ultimately resulted in him being defrocked just shortly before his passing.
This office has represented victims of Father John Edward Sullivan who were abused in Sault Ste Marie, Wawa, North Bay, Falconbridge and Midland. These acts of abuse on young males spanned a period of a quarter century and the Church knew after the first year. Imagine all the boys who didn’t have to suffer under Sullivan if the Church had chosen justice and compassion instead of cover-up and complicity! If you have any information on Father John Edward Sullivan, we would welcome hearing from you.
