Trial stayed against 98-year-old nun accused of historic sex crimes at residential and day schools

WARNING: This story contains details of abuse of children at residential schools

The trial of an Ottawa nun accused of sex crimes at northern Ontario residential and day schools in the 1960s and 1970s will not proceed after a stay of proceedings was granted due to evidence issues.

Francoise Seguin, 98, is the third nun and eighth worker overall to face criminal charges in relation to abuse at St. Anne's Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont.

Seguin, of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa, appeared on on three counts of gross indecency, a historic sexual assault offence, Tuesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Cochrane, Ont.

Assistant Crown attorney Sonia Beauchamp requested a stay of proceedings, citing difficulty getting necessary evidence.

"At this time, due to the unique evidentiary issues in this matter, the Crown is currently unable to meet the heavy burden of proof required in criminal law, despite wholesome attempts to obtain further records," Beauchamp told court.

The Crown and police had alleged the first offence occurred at St. Anne's in 1966-67, the second at Moosonee's Bishop Belleau School in 1969-70, and the third at a Sudbury detention facility in 1972-73.

The case involved a single male complainant, Joseph Etherington, who was a young student at the time, CBC News can now report. As the proceeding opened, Beauchamp successfully applied to lift a publication ban on his identity.

Sitting beside the Crown attorney, Etherington addressed the court, partly in Cree and often through tears.

"It was very overwhelming for me to know that what happened was going against all sin, related to the devil. I always remember the struggle that I felt inside myself," he said.

He described growing up in the Cree language and with the Cree people, of growing up with Roman Catholicism as a matter of fact, a religion about which he recalled learning in residential school. He went on to describe feelings of guilt and shame, saying for a long time he locked out what he alleged had happened.

"The memory of what happened was able to float away from me, but at the same time stay inside me. I was always, 'I'm, like, OK.' That I can do things," he said.

"But then came the beginning of when I started to use drugs and alcohol. That got me in trouble, caused trouble, and caused me to believe it was my fault."

Following the statement, defence counsel Michael Tomassini said for the record that his client, who declined to be present, wholeheartedly denies the allegations.