Victoria McIntosh holds a childhood jacket that her grandmother made for her that she wasn't able to bring with her to residential school, following her testimony at the Law Courts building in Winnipeg, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brittany Hobson
WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg judge has acquitted a now-retired 93-year-old priest of assault after a residential school survivor accused him of forcing himself on her more than 50 years ago.
Victoria McIntosh testified she was assaulted by Arthur Masse in a bathroom of the Fort Alexander Residential School north of Winnipeg sometime between 1968 and 1970.
McIntosh and Masse were the only witnesses who testified in the two-day judge-alone trial earlier this month.
Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond said in her decision today that she believed McIntosh was assaulted, but couldn’t determine beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Masse who did it.
McIntosh, who had about a dozen supporters with her in court, clutched a sweater a family member made for her and stared at the floor as Grammond read her analysis.
Masse stared straight ahead while the decision was being read.
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 30, 2023.
