Sex-abuse plaintiff accuses City of Saint John of stalling class-action suit
Representative plaintiff Bobby Hayes says the City is 'hoping that we'll die'
Bobby Hayes has a message for the City of Saint John — stop stalling and allow the victims some justice.
"Without a doubt, the city is dragging this on," said Hayes, the representative plaintiff in a class-action suit against the city.
"They're hoping that we'll die … we'll give up. ... [But] we're not dead. There's a lot of victims looking for justice."
The class action includes those who allege injury, loss or damage as a result of being sexually abused by former police officer Kenneth Estabrooks between 1953 and 1983.
The statement of claim alleges Estabrooks used his authority as a police officer to sexually assault children.
The suit was filed in 2013 and is slowly making its way through the court system. Both sides are currently trying to agree on a process to identify victims and award damages. As of last Tuesday, when the parties met in court, they were "diametrically opposed" on how to do that, according to the judge presiding over the case.
If the two sides can't agree on a protocol by Tuesday afternoon, Justice Darrell Stephenson said he would impose one.
The plaintiffs' Halifax-based lawyer, John McKiggan, told the court on Tuesday that he warns his clients that the approach of some defendants is to delay things so that plaintiffs die or run out of money to pay their lawyers.
"Oh, it's a waiting game with them," said Hayes in an interview the day after that recent court appearance. "But you know what? I'm gonna be here for a long time. ... I'm gonna get justice. And so will the rest of us — the victims — for what they've done to the children."
The City of Saint John did not provide an interview as requested but in an emailed statement from the city's communications department, it denied adopting a strategy that "would result in a reduction of the potential number of claimants."
"The City has not employed any such tactics."
The statement said the court "will not allow intentional delays" and that the process being followed is governed by class-action legislation.
The statement also said the motion from the plaintiffs regarding the protocol was just brought to the court last week, and the City is responding to the class's motion "based on established jurisprudence."
McKiggan estimates the potential plaintiffs range in age from their 60s to 90s.
Hayes said he knows 10 or 12 potential plaintiffs who have died since the lawsuit was filed, while others have suffered in the decades since they were abused as children.
"What takes away that pain? Drugs. Alcohol. Suicide," said Hayes.
When the case got to trial in 2022, it heard testimony from five men ranging in age from 58 to 66. They said Estabrooks preyed upon them when they were boys in Saint John.
The only one that can be named is Hayes, the representative plaintiff.
Hayes said he was first sexually assaulted by Estabrooks in 1970 as a 10-year-old and many other times over the next three or four years.
First cases to come forward deemed consensual, city said
In his opening statements in 2022, Michael Brenton, the city's lawyer, said the police force became aware of Estabrooks's inappropriate sexual relationships with two teenage boys in 1975.
Brenton said a Crown prosecutor reviewed the file at the time and determined that the sexual relationships were consensual. That means the relationships were not considered illegal under the Criminal Code as it existed in 1975.
Neither boy — then aged 15 and 17 — made any allegations of criminal activity. At the time, the age of consent was 14.
But, said Brenton, Estabrooks did admit to having a sexual encounter in a police car, which was contrary to the rules and regulations of the force, and he agreed to resign.
He was then transferred to the city's works department, where he finished his career in 1983.
By the 1990s, Saint John police were investigating several allegations of sexual assault against children under the age of 14.
In 1999, the former sergeant was found guilty of indecent assault against four children, in cases dating back to the 1950s. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
Estabrooks died in 2005.
'Get this finished'
As an adult, Hayes worked in the same public works department as Estabrooks and said the sexual assaults continued. He said supervisors simply advised him to "move faster" to avoid the encounters.
Now he wants the city to move faster to right the wrong caused to so many victims.
"The city has caused this mess and they are in no hurry to fix it. … They're just trying to weasel away out of it. They're like a rat in a hole trying to find a way out," said Hayes.
"If the city had any compassion for children — victimized children — they wouldn't be doing this. This would have been settled years ago, but the city thinks that they're going to wear them down, wear them out, and wish them away."
Cross-examination at issue
One of the main sticking points between the city and the plaintiffs' lawyers is the ability to cross-examine class members.
The plaintiffs' lawyers were opposed to cross-examination, but the city's lawyer insisted on having the option to question plaintiffs.
Hayes, who was cross-examined during the 2022 trial portion, said it's a painful process for victims.
"When you open that, you almost open a can of worms. You open your mind to a very scary place that you might not be able to shut that door again to … get all them demons under control."
Hayes said many potential plaintiffs won't subject themselves to the process.
"I know 200 kids that were abused that aren't coming forward," he said.
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