Retired B.C. teacher named in 3 sexual abuse lawsuits

A retired British Columbia Catholic high school teacher with ties to the notorious Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland is now facing a third civil claim from a former student alleging sexual abuse. 

The latest documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court allege Alfred Patrick Quigley groomed and sexually battered a 17-year-old student at St. Ann's Academy in Kamloops in 2013.

Quigley, 73, is also named in two previous lawsuits alleging he sexually abused students during tenures at St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby in the 1970s, and O'Grady Catholic High School in Prince George in the 1990s. 

None of the allegations have been proven in court. CBC News reached out to Quigley in Newfoundland, where he now lives, but did not receive a response. 

The Kamloops claim also names the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kamloops, the Catholic Independent Schools of the Kamloops Diocese, the Catholic Public Schools of the Archdiocese of Vancouver and the Catholic Independent Schools Diocese of Prince George among the defendants.

The Kamloops claim identifies the plaintiff only as "St. Ann's Survivor" or "S.A.S." It says Quigley, who was a teacher, guidance counsellor and sports coach at St. Ann's, "engaged in a continuum of grooming of S.A.S.," before inviting him to a movie in August 2013.

After the movie, the claim says, Quigley drove S.A.S. to his home and gave him a beer, despite knowing he was a minor. While watching TV together, the claim says, Quigley sexually assaulted S.A.S.

CBC News reached out to the Catholic Independent Schools of Kamloops Diocese and Bishop Joseph Nguyen of the Kamloops Diocese. An email statement sent on behalf of Bishop Nguyen said he was unable to comment because the matter is before the courts. 

"The Diocese of Kamloops is committed to responding fairly and compassionately to all claims of historic sexual abuse," the statement said.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver also said it could not comment on the S.A.S. claim.

"We would like to express deep sympathy for all victims of abuse. We hope the attendant publicity will help give any other victims/survivors the confidence to come forward and get the healing they deserve," said Matthew Furtado, communications director with the Archdiocese of Vancouver. 

The Kamloops claim says Quigley is a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a lay ministry of the Roman Catholic Church, and was "at one or more times throughout his lifetime engaged as an educator and residence director at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland."

'Mount Cashel Six'

The Mount Cashel Orphanage was the site of the largest sexual abuse scandal in Canadian history, where more than 100 boys were physically and sexually abused by the Christian Brothers who ran the orphanage over the span of many decades. 

The Mount Cashel story and coverup has a direct connection to B.C. 

A lawsuit alleges six Mount Cashel Christian Brothers accused of abuse at the orphanage were transferred to Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate between 1976 and 1983, in a move meant to avoid charges in Newfoundland. All six were later convicted. 

It's alleged the "Mount Cashel Six," as they have been called, continued abusing boys physically and sexually after being transferred to the Vancouver area. More than 100 former students of Vancouver College and St. Thomas More have come forward to join a class-action lawsuit first filed in 2021. 

Quigley is not one of the Mount Cashel Six. But the Kamloops claim says his employers "knew or ought to have known that Quigley and/or other Christian Brothers educators posed a risk of harm to children."

The Kamloops claim says the institutional defendants in all three locations showed gross negligence and breach of fiduciary duty by "silently shuffling Quigley to different schools, without warning of the risk of harm he posed to male children and youth."

No responses have been filed in the Kamloops claim.

All three men making claims against Quigley are represented by lawyer Sandra Kovacs.

Prince George and Burnaby claims

The Prince George claim was filed in September 2021 and is scheduled to go to trial early next year in Vancouver. The plaintiff, "John Doe," alleges Quigley subjected him to psychological and sexual abuse during a period from 1991 to 1994 when he was a student at O'Grady Catholic High School.

Quigley filed a response to the claim denying the allegations, saying "he conducted himself properly and appropriately in all respect toward the plaintiff in terms of the teacher/student relationship and in all contact, interactions or dealings."

Last year, Quigley's lawyer filed a withdrawal of service notice and Quigley failed to show up for his discovery examination. Kovacs said she will be moving to strike Quigley's defence in the Prince George claim.

The Burnaby claim, filed in October 2023, names Quigley and a second former teacher at St. Thomas More: Dominic William Pike. The plaintiff, " A.B.", alleges he was psychologically and sexually abused by Quigley and Pike in 1973 and 1974. Pike died in 2008, according to the claim.

Quigley did not file a response in the Burnaby claim. A default judgment ordering him to pay damages on potential future costs has been granted by the court. A trial date has not yet been set, said Kovacs.