WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers.
A former Montreal school principal is accused of sexually assaulting several young students, some as young as seven, during extracurricular activities at his Ontario farm and home in the 1970s and 1980s.
A new class action lawsuit alleges that Phillip Hart Baugniet, now a resident of British Columbia, used his position of authority to gain the trust of young male students in order to abuse them while he was the principal of the old Victoria School in 1822 Maisonneuve. Boul., and then at the FACE school, which he founded in 1975, on University Street.
An application to leave the class action lawsuit was filed last week in the Quebec Superior Court in Montreal, however a judge has yet to rule on whether or not it can proceed.
None of the allegations in the petition have been proven in court.
The 25-page document filed by Montreal law firm Kugler Kandestin lists the sole plaintiff as a man in his 40s, identified only as “C,” who went to FACE from 1986 to 1989.
He alleges that during the 1988-1989 school year, when he was seven years old, he was among several students invited to Baugniet’s personal farm in Cornwall, Ontario. — a “tradition” of the school. During the stay, the students slept in small huts on the farm grounds. One night, the director entered the cabin where C was sleeping and abused him, “telling him that this would ‘keep him warm,'” according to the lawsuit.
C allegedly saw Baugniet sexually abuse another student.
The lawsuit alleges that in the winter of 1990-1991, the man’s former principal also sexually abused him when he followed him into the bathroom of Baugniet’s home.
The alleged sexual abuse affected C deeply in the years that followed, leading him to turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with the psychological trauma. He also suffers from depression, anxiety, and struggles to develop relationships with others.
“He got married in 2013, but their marriage ended a few years later. C attributes the failure of this marriage to his substance abuse problems, which stem from the sexual assaults perpetrated by Baugniet,” the petition alleges.
The lawsuit outlines the alleged accounts of three other men who attended the two schools where Baugniet served as principal, as well as an English and math teacher, and were sexually abused by him during visits to his farm and other locations. . The men were between the ages of 10 and 13 and allege the abuse occurred during the 1973-1974 school year.
One of the men, described in the application document as “Member 3,” alleges that during a three-week stay at the farm in the summer of 1974, a drunken Baugniet entered the converted barn where he was sleeping, took off his pants and sodomized. him. He was 13 years old at the time, but the sexual assault allegedly did not end there.
“During the nights of the third week of stay, Baugniet sodomized Member #3 several times. On one occasion, Baugniet also performed oral sex on Member #3,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Baugniet mentioned to Member #3 that what happened was a secret and that if he revealed the sexual assaults to anyone, he would kill them.”
Like the plaintiff, the other member’s allegations describe years of shame, guilt, confusion, fear of telling their parents what happened and, in some cases, drug abuse.
The lawsuit seeks $450,000 in damages, as well as $750,000 in losses and $10 million in damages for the “intentional attack on the dignity and physical and psychological integrity” of the alleged victims.
The lawsuit alleges that the former school board, the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal (PSBGM), responsible for the Victoria School until July 1, 1998, was informed of the sexual assaults on children.
“By keeping Baugniet in a position of authority, the PSBGM exacerbated the situation and allowed Baugniet to continue to sexually assault members of the group with impunity,” according to the lawsuit, which adds, “PSBGM failed to act or implement the measures necessary”. measures that would have prevented the sexual assaults committed by Baugniet against the members of the group”.
The English School Board of Montreal (EMSB), which took over responsibility for the Victoria School in 1999, is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), which oversees the FACE school, is also listed as a defendant.
Both the EMSB and CSSDM declined to comment on the lawsuit to CTV News on Tuesday.
Baugniet was well known for his vile behavior and disgusting activities for many years. He tried to abuse me on a number of occasions.