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This article was published 6/9/2019 (386 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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The Bishop of the Diocese of Brandon took the stand on Thursday, testifying to the church’s records on a priest accused of sexually assaulting a child approximately 50 years ago.

The accused priest, Jack Hopper, was on record as the priest at an Anglican church in Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids First Nation) in the early 1960s when the assault was said to take place, Bishop William Cliff testified, but there were no objections to him being ordained nor were their any complaints noted on his file.

Cliff’s testimony took place in the second day of a trial to determine if the sexual abuse happened and if it did, whether the church is liable.

In lawsuit against The Anglican Church of Canada, The Diocese of Brandon filed in 2014, a woman, now 63, claimed she was sexually assaulted by Hopper in the basement of the church at the reserve twice.

The woman claims various damages, including past and future costs of hospital, medical or health services under the Health Services Insurance Act.

In a statement of defence, the church denied Hopper committed the sexual assaults and argued the church isn’t liable for the abuse.

In an emotional testimony on Wednesday, the woman said that Hopper assaulted her on two occasions after Sunday school a few months apart.

The first time, she said, he pinned her against a wall of the church and touched her genitals under her clothes and digitally penetrated her.

On the second occasion, Hopper threw her onto the floor of the church basement and raped her, the woman said.

Hopper died in the 1990s.

When Hopper was ordained, Cliff said, documents showed that clergy were of the belief that he lived his life in a morally acceptable way, and there were no objections to Hopper becoming a priest.

Had there been concerns or complaints, they would have been noted on his file and investigated, Cliff said.

There is a process for complaints in the church, Cliff said, and although it may have differed from the modern process, there would have been a process in the 1960s as well.

The church that the assault was alleged to have taken place in has since burned down, Cliff said, but a vestry book from another church in the community Hopper oversaw showed he officiated services from 1960 to 1963.

The vestry book also showed when the Bishop or Archdeacon visited the parish, Cliff said, which was, on average, every couple of months.

"Would you agree that (a record of) the day-to-day supervision or monitoring of this fellow and his work at Grand Rapids doesn’t exist?" the woman’s lawyer, Norman Rosenbaum, asked during cross-examination.

"No they do not, that didn’t exist at the time," Cliff said. "Just because it wasn’t documented doesn’t mean he wasn’t monitored."

In the woman’s previous testimony, she said it was Hopper and another woman who ran the Sunday school program.

Currently, Sunday school isn’t run by the priest but rather a volunteer such as retired teachers, Cliff said.

"Who ran the Sunday school in Grand Rapids in the 1960s?" asked Brandon lawyer Breena Murray, who is representing the church.

"I have no idea," Cliff said. "I’m told it was a woman who worked at the day school."

"If Mr. Hopper would have completed these services, it should have been entered in the book?" Murray asked.

"Yes," Cliff replied, noting that, according to the vestry book, Hopper had not overseen Sunday school classes.

The court also heard from clinical psychologist David Kolton, who assessed the woman’s memory recall and the possibility she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Out of a total of 20 possible symptoms for PTSD, the woman displayed 10 of them, Kolton said, which is enough for her to be officially diagnosed.

Many of the woman’s symptoms were related to memories of the sexual abuse she reported, Kolton said.

During the assessment, the woman was also given a test meant to detect if someone is attempting to fake a memory problem, Kolton said.

The woman scored perfectly, he added, meaning she was being honest about her memory recall.

"When individuals are actually reporting true memories, they make mistakes, they correct themselves, they can be triggered by certain questions and remember things they didn’t before," Kolton said. "Those inconsistencies are the hallmark of a true recounting of a memory."

Murray asked Kolton whether the woman’s PTSD could have been caused by abuse she had experienced at the hands of her father, who was an alcoholic, or abuse she experienced while attending day school on the reserve.

She also asked whether the PTSD could have been caused by the deaths of two of the woman’s children, one of whom was violently assaulted and the other involved in a hit and run.

It was possible, Kolton said, as PTSD can stem from any form of trauma a person experiences or witnesses.

In many of the woman’s symptoms, however, she related memories to the reported sexual abuse and how it had a significant impact on her life, Kolton noted.

Both counsel have closed their cases and will be submitting written arguments to the court.

Arguments and rebuttals are expected to be filed by Nov. 8.

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