(Montreal) The Jewish General Hospital of Montreal finds itself at the heart of a request for class action for sexual abuse allegedly committed against children by two former social workers employed by its Department of Child Psychiatry, Gino Londei and Steve Trowbridge.
The request, led by the law firm Trudel Johnston and Lspérance, was presented to Superior Court on Thursday by the alleged victim identified by the initials C.K., who was a young boy aged 6 when he was admitted to the Department in child psychiatry in 1981. The child attended the Department’s day clinic for approximately two years, where he claims to have been sexually assaulted on several occasions.
He is asking the Court for permission to represent all the people who were sexually assaulted by the two social workers, alleging that these men “used the power and authority conferred on them by their status and role as care workers pediatricians to commit these heinous acts.”
“The number of victims is uncertain at this stage,” explained Me Jessica Lelièvre in an interview with The Canadian Press.
In his request, C. K. accuses the two men of having chosen their victims “among the most vulnerable children under their supervision” and of having “used the power conferred on them by their status to inspire fear in their victims, thus preventing them to denounce abuses.”
In his application, which targets the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, which oversees the Jewish General Hospital, C.K. recounts in particular having been taken by Steve Trowbridge into a room containing toys and having been able to obtain a ball only on the condition that the child caress his genitals.
Gino Londei, for his part, had locked C. K. on several occasions in what was called a time out room and allegedly engaged in sexual abuse. In one case, he allegedly hit the child violently, pushed him to the ground, removed his pants and sodomized him, an experience that C. K. says he still remembers today, the pain, the fear and the inability to call for help. ‘help. His underwear was stained with blood.
The two men, he alleges, repeatedly abused him.
Although C. K. does not recall witnessing the abuse of other children, he does recall seeing Steve Trowbridge and Gino Lundei taking children into this withdrawal room on several occasions.
Me Lelièvre was not able at this stage to provide information regarding the fate of the two former social workers, saying he expected to learn more as the procedures progress.
C. K. claims to have since suffered from anxiety, depression, loss of trust in anyone in authority and alcoholism. He has difficulty building lasting relationships and fears closed spaces. He says he experiences symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, including reminders (“flashbacks”) of the attacks he suffered.
He is seeking non-pecuniary damages of $250,000 for each of the victims identified. He is also seeking monetary damages and punitive damages, the amount of which will remain to be determined for each victim.
