A class action lawsuit was filed Friday against the Center de services scolaire de l’Or-et-des-Bois (CSSOB) for sexual assaults committed by a teacher between 1972 and 1993.
Jacinthe Boisvert-St-Laurent said she was attacked by French teacher Jean-Pierre Colas, from Le Carrefour high school, in December 1987. The facts allegedly took place at the teacher’s home.
She said her mother reported the situation to a high school official a few days after the attack. He will admit that high school already knows the problem, but can do nothing.
We say that management has acted in deliberate blindnessargues Me Maryse Lapointe of the firm Lapointe Legal, who filed an action against the firm Arsenault Dufresne Wee.
A teacher for 21 years and water polo coach at Carrefour, Jean-Pierre Colas was accused and convicted of sexually touching another minor victim, six years later, in 1993. He was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment. He died in 2017 at the age of 76.
In their motion, plaintiff’s attorneys contend that different court documents make it possible to identify at least three to six different victims of Jean-Pierre Colas.
” It’s always hard to assess, but how the facts happened for identified victims, Jean-Pierre Colas seems to have pattern to target a few students each year. There may be at least one victim per year. “
In a written statement, Jacinthe Boisvert-St-Laurent believes that the school board, by being lax, has destroyed the lives, emotional, relationships and values of many children whose trauma has poisoned their adult lives.
Jacinthe Boisvert-St-Laurent chose to act openly to encourage other victims to contact her attorneys and register for class action.
It was an important gesture on his part, believes Me Lapointe. Most attack victims will ask to act confidentially. He wants to carry his message and inspire more people to join him in his search for justice.
The process can only proceed if the Superior Court agrees to hear the class action.
The lawyers set the damages to be claimed at $ 600,000 per victim.
All persons suspected of being assaulted are automatically included in class action and they are entitled to compensation after trial or possible settlement. To find out who they are, they must contact us so we can collect their information. They can maintain their confidentiality during the legal process.end of Mr. Lapointe.
The management of the Or-et-des-Bois School Service Center indicated via email that they did not intend to react to this news at the moment.
Source: Radio-Canada
