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By the time Rev. William Hodgson Marshall was sexually abusing Rod MacLeod at a Sudbury high school, he’d already been shuttled away from three previous complaints.

That was the solution to the Marshall problem by the Basilian Fathers of Toronto, who moved the priest from place to place and away from the young people he victimized.

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Those decisions helped shape what is believed to be the largest civil award in Canada given to a victim of priest abuse.

Included in the $2.57-million judgment decided on by a Toronto jury this week is $500,000 in punitive damages against the Roman Catholic church, an amount that has far exceeded any previous amount in Canada.

“This changes everything,” said London-based lawyer Robert Talach, of Beckett Personal Injury Lawyers, who represented MacLeod at the trial. “Victims are not going to walk out with little pieces of silver anymore from settlements. This changes everything for people who have been hurt by the church.”