Hubert Patrick O'Connor (17 February 1928 — 24 July 2007) was a

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from

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who was famously forced to resign from the church following charges of multiple

sex crimes Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

stemming from his time as principal at the Saint Joseph's Mission Residential School in Williams Lake. At the time, he was the highest ranking Catholic official in the world to ever be charged with a sex crime.

Church career

O'Connor was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood on 5 June 1955 with the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

after studying in Ottawa,

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. He worked within the church until being sent to Williams Lake as the principal of Saint Joseph's Mission from 1961 to 1967. (Saint Joseph's Mission is often shortened to 'St. Joseph's' or simply 'the Mission'.) St. Joseph's Mission was a key component of the

Canadian Residential School System In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school ...

, a government and church-funded attempt to destroy

Indigeneity Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

in Canada through

forced assimilation Forced assimilation is an involuntary process of cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups during which they are forced to adopt language, identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, way of li ...

. It was during his time at St. Joseph's that O'Connor committed multiple sex crimes against underage

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

girls and boys and raped multiple Indigenous women. On 15 October 1971, O'Connor was appointed Bishop of

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. He then served as the Bishop of Prince George,

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from 1986 to 1991 before resigning after being charged with multiple sex crimes.

Sexual assault charges

In 1991, several students from the

St. Joseph's Mission Residential School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

in Williams Lake came forward with allegations of sexual assault and sexual indecency while O'Connor was principal between 1964–1967. During the preliminary trial in 1992 where O'Connor faced four sex charges, eight women

testified In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. La ...

that O'Connor repeatedly

molested Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

, raped,

coerced Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

, and physically and sexually abused young Indigenous girls at St. Joseph's Mission. Testimonies revealed that O'Connor also entered into sexual relationships with female staff at St. Joseph's whom were in their teens and early 20s. O'Connor targeted the all-female bagpipe and dance band in particular because of their frequent fieldtrips across British Columbia and Canada that left them isolated with O'Connor. One woman testified that during these trips, O'Connor would "crawl into girls' bunks and start kissing them". Incidents such as these led to O'Connor fathering at least one child, who was given up for adoption to avoid public scandal. Despite victims' testimonies, the trial was thrown out on a technicality after the

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failed to disclose evidence to the defense. In 1994, upon review of the 1991 mistrial, the B.C. Court of Appeal approved the Crown's request to pursue charges and O'Connor was convicted of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

in 1996 of two young Indigenous women that occurred at St. Joseph's Residential School. Justice

Wally Oppal Wallace Taroo "Wally" Oppal, (born 1940) is a Canadian lawyer, former judge and provincial politician. Between 2005 and 2009, he served as British Columbia's Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism, as well as Member of ...

sentenced O'Connor to two-and-a-half years in prison; he served just six months of his sentence before being released on $1,000

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

pending an appeal in 1997. In March 1998, the B.C. Court of Appeal

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

O'Connor of indecent assault and ordered a new trial on one count of rape. However, three months later, in June, O'Connor participated in a seven-hour healing circle held at Esk'etemc, a Secwepemc

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

community near Williams Lake formerly known as Alkali Lake Band. During the healing circle, O'Connor formally apologized to his victims. The victims later reported a sense of closure they had not found in the prior trials. The Crown, having considered the impact of O'Connor's apology and the extent to which the trials had retraumatized his victims, decided to drop the remaining rape charge. In July 2021, a new sexual assault allegation against the now-deceased O'Connor surfaced. Ronald Wayne Petruk filed a suit with the Supreme Court of B.C. stating that O'Connor sexually assaulted Petruk and other teen boys with fellow priests at St. Joseph's Mission. The suit remains ongoing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Hubert Patrick 1928 births 2007 deaths People convicted of indecent assault Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Canada Members of the clergy convicted of rape 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic bishops of Prince George Roman Catholic bishops of Whitehorse Sexual abuse of women in the Catholic Church