“They were literally treated like animals”.
That from Lynn Moore, one of the lawyers behind a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of residents of the Boys’ and Girls’ homes in Pleasantville, Whitbourne and Waterford Bridge Road.
The lawsuit claims that the sexual abuses were committed by employees, priests, and sometimes older children, including molestation, rape, and beatings and detention while naked.
Moore says in the 1950’s boys were being abused by a veterinarian who was hired by the Smallwood government to help with mink ranches in the Whitbourne area. She says when the boys were hurt they would send them to the veterinarian and he used his position to sexually abuse the boys.
Moore displayed charts detailing incidents of abuse going back to the early 1950’s.
Moore says sexual abuse has been happening in these institutions for decades, and government response has been woefully inadequate.
She says the Hughes Commission from the 1990s, looking into abuse at Mount Cashel showed government and civil servants of the day had “an appetite for concealment”. Moore says their submission is that the appetite for concealment goes back to the 1950s and continued as we just saw with the Muskrat Falls Inquiry and documents not coming forward until the last minute.
In a statement, the Department of Justice says it consented to have the matter proceed as class action. However, it specifies that action in no way indicates an admission of liability.
As the matter is before the courts, the Department indicates it cannot offer any further comment.
