The City of Westmount has moved to settle with the victims of sexual abuse by a former employee.
John Garland worked in the city's parks and recreation department for over 30 years.
The city said he misused his position of power and trust to abuse some of the children in his care. Garland died in 2012.
In a class action lawsuit he filed in 2015, California-based filmmaker Matthew Bissonnette said Garland committed many acts of sexual assault between 1953 and 1987.
He accused Garland of inviting boys, including several from the Pee Wee All Stars hockey team he coached for decades, into his home at Sherbrooke and Grosvenor. He sexually assaulted some of them.
Bissonnette said Garland sexually abused him on many occasions between 1978 and 1980, when he was 12 to 14 years old.
Bissonnette filed a criminal complaint against Garland in 1993 but prosecutors eventually declined to proceed. He tried again in 2012 but Garland died several months later.
When Bissonnette filed his class-action lawsuit, officials in Westmount were shocked.
"It certainly wasn't indicated to anyone in the administration at Westmount. Why it stopped at the police station I have no idea, but it certainly did," said Mayor Peter Trent.
The city launched a thorough investigation and concluded Bissonnette's claims were justified.
"Mr. Bissonnette's evidence, I should point out, was very forthcoming, very transparent, and very credible," said lawyer Kurt Johnson.
Now the City of Westmount has agreed to give $100,000 to each victim and has a purse of $2.5 million total for compensation. Four victims have come forward so far.
“I think that anyone would do well to come forward in terms of their own personal development and also to allow them to get themselves access to the resources to get the help that I feel that they need,” said Bissonnette.
All claims are confidential, assured Bissonnette, who urged Garland’s other victims to seek the compensation.
“That’s an individual decision for each person. My personal feeling on the matter is that people who are victims of childhood sexual abuse, whether it’s occurring now or has occurred, the best thing they can do, and the first thing they can do, is to tell somebody, and to start talking about it immediately and openly and begin the healing process,” he said.
Trent agreed.
"If they wish to remain anonymous they will," he said. "We have to root this out and make sure people are comfortable about coming forth."
Westmount said in a statement that Garland "misused his position of power and trust to abuse sexually some of the children and teenagers in his care."
"The city acknowledges that the effects of sexual abuse can last a lifetime and be devastating for victims, their families, and a community," it said. "This is particularly true when the abuse is directed at the most vulnerable among us, our children."
