Ontario sisters must pay uncle $125K for false sex abuse claims <http://www.cbc.ca/> Description: CBCCBC 4 hours ago
A judge has ordered two sisters from Ancaster, Ont., to pay their uncle
$125,000 in libel damages for falsely accusing him of sexually assaulting
them in a rural farmhouse when they were children.
I find that the evidence adduced at trial was not of the clear and cogent
nature required to substantiate the defendants' claim of sexual abuse,
wrote Ontario Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman in his decision in the
case of Patricia and Sarah Vanderkooy.
According to court documents, the accusations ripped apart the Vanderkooy
family a large group from the Netherlands who were part of the Christian
Reformed Church.
Patricia and Sarah Vanderkooy alleged Jack Vanderkooy sexually assaulted
them when the two were staying at his Simcoe, Ont., farm in the early 1980s.
Criminal charges were never laid.
The sisters were four and six years old at the time, court documents say.
Now in their 30s, the two first came forward with the accusations in 2006.
In the years including and between 1982 and 1986, when the abuse is alleged
to have occurred, both Tricia and Sarah spent a lot of time at the
farmhouse, Goodman said, adding that their uncle's farmhouse was like a
second home to the girls.
During the court proceedings, Patricia testified that she had two distinct
memories of being sexually abused by her uncle. In the first, she recalled
feeling like she was being pinned down by her uncle, and she had pain in her
legs or groin. Years later, she believed the pain was in her vaginal area,
court documents say.
In the second incident, she recalled being pulled up onto a bed in her
cousin's bedroom where the children often stayed and something soft being
placed in her mouth, which may have been his penis.
Sarah Vanderkooy also described two memories of being assaulted, which she
described as a static image like a snapshot or an out-of-body
experience.
Sarah testified that she does not see Jack's face but, as with the first
memory, she knows it is Jack, court documents say.
The two sisters did not come forward until 2006. The two spoke about it for
the first time and then went to their parents about it. Her parents, Jim
and Christine, were in disbelief, court documents say.
In August 2006, the sisters confronted their uncle about the allegations,
which he denied.
The day after the confrontation, Patricia Vanderkooy, with her sister's
input, sent an email to various family members and other individuals
outlining the allegations. It also contained the line, We do not want
anyone else to be sexually abused. That statement was part of the crux of
the judge's statement in the case. Goodman says it was intended to
demonstrate that Jack is a sexual predator, likely to reoffend and is not
to be trusted or left alone with children.
Jack is a man who comes from an extended family and indeed, cherishes
family, church and community. As a result of these allegations, I am
satisfied that Jack has been shunned by a number of his family members
including several of his sisters, Goodman wrote in his decision. Jack had
to profess his innocence to his children. Jack had to face these allegations
in the public and cope with their effect as it was felt throughout his
close-knit religious community.
The judge also dismissed a counterclaim for sexual battery filed by the
sisters after Vanderkooy sued for defamation, because their memories of the
alleged incidents weren't "of the clear and cogent nature required" to back
up their claims.
Goodman also called into question how Jack Vanderkooy could have had an
opportunity to commit the assaults with two other male cousins in the same
room.
"In order to commit the sexual assaults, Jack would have to stealthily and
gingerly manoeuvre himself around the other children and not make a sound to
avoid waking up the other children," he wrote.
The judge ruled that Jack is entitled to general damages of $125,000 with
costs.
In my opinion, it is the defendants who singularly and collectively set out
on both covert and public course of action to tarnish an innocent man's
reputation within and without the large Vanderkooy family, as well as in the
community at large, Goodman wrote.
Notwithstanding my judgment, Jack's reputation in the community may
continue to be irreparably smeared.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
<<image001.jpg>>
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ All Archives can be found at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
