The lawsuit was filed Dec. 15 in Ontario Superior Court docket of Justice by legal professionals for 2 younger ladies, whereas the proposed class motion would come with “all college students” at St. Matthew who had been allegedly sexually assaulted between Jan. 1, 1989, and April 30, 2021.
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Two younger ladies who had been Grade 7 college students of disgraced former instructor Rick Despatie have launched a $220-million lawsuit towards Despatie and the Ottawa Catholic College Board, alleging faculty officers didn’t report Despatie’s “extended, intrusive and exploitative” mistreatment of scholars in his care.
Despatie, also called Rick Watkins, a former instructor at St. Matthew Catholic Excessive College in Orléans, acquired a two-year sentence in January after being discovered responsible on 4 counts every of sexual assault and sexual interference, two counts of legal harassment and one rely of sexual exploitation.
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Despatie, 60, is at present out on bail whereas interesting his conviction, and, in line with his assertion of defence, plans to characterize himself within the pending civil lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 15 in Ontario Superior Court docket of Justice by legal professionals representing the ladies, who’re recognized solely as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, whereas the proposed class motion would come with “all college students” at St. Matthew who had been allegedly sexually assaulted by Despatie between Jan. 1, 1989, and April 30, 2021.
The Ottawa Catholic College Board is known as as a defendant within the lawsuit, which alleges the board failed to research quite a few complaints about Despatie and didn’t protect paperwork important to the authorized case.
Despatie labored as a instructor for roughly 32 years earlier than his arrest and was employed by the OCSB in any respect materials occasions. The lawsuit claims the OCSB is “vicariously liable” for Despatie’s misconduct in the direction of his college students, the sexual assaults and his different wrongful conduct.
The OCSB acquired “quite a few complaints and considerations about Despatie, however failed or refused to research,” the lawsuit alleges, whereas St. Matthew faculty officers “actively and aggressively downplayed, diminished and discounted” these complaints.
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College officers “had the very best alternative to research complaints about Despatie, however avoided conducting any investigation, or taking any steps to find out if the complaints had been well-founded,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit additional claims the OCSB didn’t protect and preserve “essential” paperwork, emails, data, and different proof of prior complaints and reviews of Despatie’s misconduct.
“This failure constitutes spoliation of proof, which has materially impacted the flexibility to pursue justice and accountability on this matter,” the assertion of declare says.
The lawsuit claims the OCSB had “pertinent paperwork … emails, inner communications, reviews of misconduct and investigative recordsdata, concerning prior complaints about Despatie, and these paperwork had been both destroyed or not adequately preserved.
“The absence of those paperwork considerably impedes the flexibility to determine a complete understanding of the extent of the board’s information and response to the allegations towards Despatie, which is important for this authorized continuing.”
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Legal professionals for the Catholic board filed a discover of intent to defend the lawsuit in January. College board officers declined to touch upon the case.
“With regards to authorized claims involving the varsity board, established procedures are adopted, which embrace the Ontario College Boards Insurance coverage Trade (OSBIE) offering specialised authorized counsel to supervise and handle the authorized proceedings,” board officers said this week.
Despatie denied the allegations and referred to as the claims “egregious and vexatious” in a short assertion of defence filed in December.
“As a defendant, I intend in the end to defend this declare,” Despatie said. “It’s my intent to self-represent as I do not need the means to rent a authorized illustration.”
Despatie said the references to the 2 feminine plaintiffs are “unclear … and, as such, I’m unable to decipher who (the lawsuit is) referring to.”
The lawsuit particulars a number of “inappropriate and non-consensual interactions” between Despatie and the Grade 7 ladies in 2014 and in 2016.
The primary complainant mentioned she was “remoted from her friends” early within the 2016 faculty 12 months by Despatie, who “subjected her to intimate one-on-one conversations … inappropriately touched her thighs, breasts and neck … massaged her shoulders and touched her collarbone underneath her shirt” and made inappropriate sexual feedback.
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The second complainant reported undesirable and non-consensual touching in 2014, stating Despatie touched her thighs, breasts and neck and made sexual feedback in entrance of her friends in his math class.
The scholars reported the instructor’s conduct to St. Matthew’s directors, together with then-vice principal John Purificati and principal Debbie Clark. Each faculty officers are recognized within the lawsuit, although neither is known as as a defendant.
The lawsuit alleges the directors “didn’t conduct an investigation or report the complaints to the varsity board or police” and turned a blind eye to the complaints towards Despatie due, partially, to the “shut private relationship” he loved with faculty officers.
Purificati testified throughout Despatie’s legal trial that he had by no means acquired any complaints about inappropriate touching by Despatie, who was additionally a longtime ladies’ basketball coach.
Through the trial, Purificati described Despatie as a devoted skilled and “a very good man.”
Complaints in regards to the instructor normally associated to his robust strategy within the classroom, Purificati testified.
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The lawsuit claims $50 million in damages towards Despatie for sexual assault, breach of fiduciary obligation, breach of confidence, breach of belief and negligence, $25 million in aggravated damages and $25 million in punitive and exemplary damages.
The lawsuit claims further damages of $10 million towards Despatie for misplaced wages, misplaced incomes capability and the prices of future care and remedy for the previous college students which might be nonetheless to be decided.
The plaintiffs are additionally searching for a declaration from the court docket that Despatie owed his college students “an obligation of care, a fiduciary obligation and a statutory obligation of care, and that he breached these duties by the inappropriate touching, fondling and sexual assault” of the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit claims corresponding damages towards the OCSB, stating the award can be “justified towards the (OCSB) in its personal proper, given its precise or constructive information of the chance of hurt and damage which Despatie offered to Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 and the Pupil Class, (the board’s) complicity and/or willful blindness in the direction of Despatie’s ongoing wrongdoing, and their failure to stop and/or mitigate the results of this wrongdoing by means of acceptable and well timed investigations, interventions, and/or assist.”
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Allegations towards the OCSB contained within the assertion of declare haven’t been examined in court docket.
The lawsuit additionally particulars a number of encounters Despatie had with different college students, who’re included as potential members of the proposed class motion.
The lawsuit alleges Despatie “stared and leered at feminine college students, together with their chest, buttocks and legs … inappropriately touched or fondled (college students’) shoulders, neck, thighs” and directed ladies to take a seat on his lap.
He allegedly positioned his palms underneath the ladies’ clothes and “would unexpectedly enter feminine changerooms and washrooms for his sexual gratification.”
These allegations haven’t been examined in court docket.
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