This week, the Superior Court authorized the filing of a class action application by about a hundred alleged victims of sexual and physical abuse by sisters at the Montreal Institute for the Deaf and Mute.
Launched at the initiative of the Maison des femmes sourdes de Montréal on behalf of former students and boarders, the request for compensation targets the community of the Sisters of Charity of Providence, which managed the establishment until its closure in 1975. The request, authorized last Tuesday by Judge Lukasz Granosik, brings together 143 people alleging to have suffered abuse at the hands of nuns working there between 1940 and 1975.
Other victims could join the process, according to Mr.e Jessica Lelièvre, who has been leading the case since 2021 for the Trudel Johnston&Lespérance firm.
The appeal alleges serious physical, sexual and psychological abuse of school-age girls.
The person named in the class action claim claims in particular to have been the victim of “extremely serious, degrading and senseless assaults, violence and abuse” which took place over several years, when she was between the ages of 6 and 11. The alleged acts, which were committed by six or seven sisters, include in particular “penetration with fingers and various objects, touching, humiliating and degrading gestures and even serious assault”.
“It’s extremely disturbing. It’s an unspeakable violence, which is shocking. I’m having a hard time [à comprendre] “How can someone do this to a six-year-old, seven-year-old child?” M wonders.e Lelièvre: “These are hard facts to read and hear. We can only imagine what our clients have experienced. It is absolutely horrible.”
The damages claimed could reach several million dollars.
The plaintiff is seeking moral damages of $200,000 for each victim of sexual or physical abuse, $50,000 for victims of psychological abuse, as well as punitive damages of $25,000 for each member involved in the lawsuit. Subsequent pecuniary damages are also to be determined.
Founded by the Sisters of Charity of Providence in 1851, the Montreal Institute for the Deaf and Mute was housed in an imposing stone building in the heart of the Plateau-Mont-Royal, which still stands at the corner of Saint-Denis and Cherrier streets. The majority of students resided on site to receive their primary and secondary education.
The school closed in 1975, when the Quebec government took back control of the education system.