Ex-priest accused of abusing as many as 500 Native boys

Monday, October 24, 2011  

A former Anglican priest who has been convicted of more than 50 charges of child sex abuse is believed to have abused as many as 500 Native boys in Canada.

Ralph Rowe was a priest who flew into reserves in Ontario and Manitoba. He was a pilot and a leader of the Boy Scouts of Canada who frequently invited Native boys into home.

“He was a priest and I trusted him and he was a likeable person,” Ernest Spence, who lived on the Split Lake First Nation in Manitoba but was not a victim, told CBC News. “He was a pilot too. He used to give us rides and all that, show us slides at his house.”

Two lawsuits were filed against the Boy Scouts of Canada over Rowe's conduct. Both cases were settled out of court, involving 39 plaintiffs who have been told not to talk about the abuse.

“It was hard talking about it before but I knew I had to keep talking about it and keep bringing up what happened to me and how it affected my life,” Ralph Winter, who said he was abused by Rowe, told CBC.

Winter is not a part of the lawsuits and he has publicly talked about his situation. But other Native men have remained silent and they may be pursuing new criminal charges against Rowe, CBC reported

Get the Story:
Scouts lawsuits over prolific pedophile quietly settled (CBC 10/24)
Scouts Canada sex settlements kept secret (CBC 10/24)