Pedophile priest thought confession would erase sins, conference hears

Pedophile priest thought confession would erase sins, conference hears

Roberta Pennington, CanWest News Service

WINDSOR, Ont. - Convicted pedophile Rev. Charles Sylvestre blames his victims, other clergy and a school principal for the abuse he caused more than 50 young girls, Ontario Crown Paul Bailey said Wednesday.

''What we have here is a man who minimized his own involvement, blamed others, showed no (remorse) whatsoever to the psychological carnage that he caused,'' Bailey said.

''This all just confirms in my mind that we're dealing with not mere moral fault, we're dealing with psychological pathology.''

Bailey told a crowd of about 200 priests, deacons and other religious staff gathered at a sexual abuse workshop that he recently met with Sylvestre in jail to try ''understand what made him tick.''

Sylvestre was under no obligation to speak to Bailey, but did so nonetheless, giving the attorney disturbing insight into the84-year-old's distorted psyche.

''According to him, these eight-year-old girls planned the destruction of their own lives,'' Bailey said.

Sylvestre was sentenced in October to three years in a penitentiary for sexually abusing 47 girls between the ages of eight and 15 over a period of 30 years in five parishes across southwestern Ontario. Sincehis conviction, 10 more women have come forward alleging his abuse.

In an effort to dispel the myth that pedophiles suffer a ''meremoral failure,'' Bailey presented excerpts from his conversation withSylvestre that shows the disgraced priest's mental illness, or''distinct psychological pathology.''

When speaking to Bailey of the young girls he molested, Sylvestre talked as though the children conspired to have him abuse them.

''These girls that came over there every day, they planned it,''Sylvestre told Bailey. ''I could hear them talking and they'd come in and sit on a chair and their skirt would be up to their crotch ?Well, it was kind of attracting.''

Sylvestre said he knew what he was doing ''was a sin,'' but thought that his actions would be forgiven through confession.

As part of workshop, the clergy representing 69 parishes also hear demotional presentations from two of Sylvestre's victims. A psychologist also spoke about pedophiles and the damage their abuse can cause achild.

The workshop is one of two being held by the Diocese of London as a means of educating the staff and raising awareness of sexual abuse in the church in order to help prevent it in the future, said diocese spokesman Ron Pickersgill.