Father Jacques Desgrandchamps – Ottawa Citizen photo
THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Jacques Desgrandchamps
Alain Desgrandchamps
Father Jacques Desgrandchamps osm
Priest. Ordained 25 August 1963. Member of the Servites order (osm) – also known as Friars of teh Servants of Mary.
2017: Alegations that Father Desgrandchamps sexually abused a student at Notre-Dame des Servites College in Ayers Cliff Quebec s during the mid-1970s. In an interview with Radio Canada Father Desgrandchamps admitted he had sex with some students when he was a teacher and is quoted as saying: “There was no violence, it was a search for consolation. It’s also maybe, eventually, of being turned on by children.,”
__________________________
_____________________________
– according to media report also served at Ste-Marguerite-Marie parish in Magog and the Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel parish in Montreal. (Does anyone know when?
– published series of books/biographies (?) on Bishop Antoine Racine:
________________________________
Archbishops of OTTAWA Archdiocese from around the time of Father Desgrandchamps arrival : Joseph-Aurèle Plourde (02 January 1967 – September 1989) ; Marcel André J. Gervais (Coadjutor Archbishop: 13 May 1989 – Archbishop: 27 September 1989 – 14 May 2007); Terrence Thomas Prendergast, S.J. (14 May 2007 – –)
Auxiliary Bishops in OTTAWA Archdiocese from around the time Father Desgrandchamps arrived to the present: John Michael Beahen (11 May 1977 – 14 March 1988); Gilles Bélisle (11 May 1977 – 19 August 1993); Brendan Michael O’Brien (06 May 1987 – 05 May 1993); Frederick Joseph Colli (19 December 1994 – 02 February 1999); Paul Marchand, S.M.M. (31 May 1993 to 08 March 1999); Christian Heribert Riesbeck, C.C. ( 07 Jan 2014 – -)
_________________________________
Unless otherwise indicated the following information is drawn from Canadian Catholic Church Directories (CCCD) which I have on hand, media (M)
November 2017: suspended (M)
– address for St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church, Ottawa, Ontario (CCCD) (ccording to media reports he was still assisting with Masses at St. Anthony’s.)
August 2017: listed as in residence at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church. Ottawa, Ontario:
18 December 2016: listed as in residence at St. Anthony of Padua, Roman Catholic Church. Ottawa, Ontario ( in residence )
15 October 2016: Lisetd as Assistant at St. Anthony of Padua, Roman Catholic Church. Ottawa, Ontario”
1985: Index lists address for St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church. Ottawa, Ontario (Pastor Father Andre Carrier osm) (CCCD)
c, 1980s and 1990s: According to LeDroit article Father Desgrandchamps worked at an all girls private Catholic girsl school in Hull, Quebec in the 1980s and 1990s. ( “Father Desgrandchamps passed through Saint Joseph” & original French text)
1973-74, 1971-72: College Notre Dames des Servites, Ayers Cliff. Quebec (Listed as Jaques Desgrandchamps)
1968-69: St. Barthelemy Roman Catholic Church, Ayers Cliff, Stanstead, Quebec (CCCD) Diocese of Sherbrooke (Pastor Father Louis-M Labbee) listed as “Alain Desgrancshamps”
25 August 1963: ORDAINED
1932: DOB
______________________________
Priest who worked in Eastern Townships suspended after sex allegations
Father Jacques Desgrandchamps suspended weekly mass in Ottawa
Posted: Nov 21, 2017 10:39 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 22, 2017 12:13 PM ET
The sex abuse is alleged to have taken place at the Collège Servite in Ayer’s Cliff, in Quebec’s Eastern Townships between 1973 and 1975. (Radio-Canada)
A priest who taught history at a Catholic boarding school in the Eastern Townships has been suspended after an application for a class-action lawsuit was filed alleging he sexually assaulted at least one of his students.
In the document, a 57-year-old man accuses the Collège Servite in Ayer’s Cliff, Que., and the religious Servite Order community of turning a blind eye to the alleged abuse he was a victim of between 1973 and 1975, at the hands of Father Jacques Desgrandchamps.
The man was 12 at the time. He has chosen to remain anonymous, but his lawyer, Robert Kugler, says a class action lawsuit was chosen in order to allow other potential victims to come forward.
The lawsuit application alleges former teacher at the college and now-suspended priest in Ottawa sexually assaulted at least one of his students in the 1970s. (Radio-Canada)
Kugler and his client are waiting on the approval of Quebec’s Superior Court to proceed with the lawsuit, and are asking for nearly $2 million in damages.
No criminal charges have been laid.
‘Nobody ever assisted him’
Kugler says his client was given alcohol and repeatedly sexually abused in Desgrandchamps’s bedroom in a wing off limits to students.
“Nobody ever asked the question. Nobody ever intervened. Nobody ever assisted him,” Kugler said, adding the man has had a difficult and lonely life since, suffering from anxiety, depression, problems with drugs and alcohol.
The Servite Order says it immediately suspended Desgrandchamps from his functions at the St. Anthony of Padua church in Ottawa, when it received the lawsuit application.
Priest admits to having sex with some students
Desgrandchamps has been suspended from the Servite Order and from the mass he gives on Sundays at the St. Anthony of Padua church in Ottawa. (Radio-Canada)
In an interview with Radio-Canada, Desgrandchamps said he was upset, shattered and panicked by the allegations.
He confirmed he taught at the school in the 1970s, but doesn’t know who filed the motion. He also admitted to having sex with some students when he was a teacher.
“There was no violence, it was a search for consolation. It’s also maybe, eventually, of being turned on by children,” Desgrandchamps told Radio-Canada.
He admitted to having done “silly things” but that he believed he was being targeted because of “representing a certain authority to them, a certain way of life and they’ll try to ruin you,” Desgrandchamps said of the allegations.
The school’s current director François Leblanc said the allegations took him by surprise. (Radio-Canada)
Diocese commits to safe space
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Ottawa said it is committed to establishing “a safe environment in the church for minors and other vulnerable persons.”
“The Archdiocese of Ottawa encourages Catholics and all members of society to protect minors and all vulnerable persons,” the Archdiocese said.
“And commit to rising to the height of their responsibilities and obligations towards the victims in their search for justice and truth.”
School no longer run by priests
The Collège Servite is no longer run by priests, but its religious roots can be felt from its name to the symbols that endow its facade.
The Collège’s director, François Leblanc, said Tuesday the school has been made aware of the application and that it’s taking it seriously.
“It’s very sad. For me, it was a big surprise,” Leblanc said.
with files from Radio-Canada and CBC Montreal’s Kate McKenna
___________________________________
Retired Ottawa priest named in abuse lawsuit in Quebec
Ottawa Citizen
November 22, 2017 7:08 PM EST
An Ottawa priest has been named in a Quebec lawsuit that seeks almost $2 million in damages for sex assaults that allegedly occurred at a private Catholic boarding school.
Rev. Jacques Desgrandchamps, 85, a priest in the Servite Order, lives in residence at St. Anthony of Padua Church. He served as an assistant pastor at the Booth Street church until December 2016.
In a recently filed lawsuit, it’s alleged Desgrandchamps sexually abused a student at Notre-Dame des Servites Colleges, a private Catholic school, during the mid-1970s.
The anonymous plaintiff, now 57, attended the boarding school in Quebec’s Eastern Townships between 1973 and 1975.
He alleges that as a 12-year-old, he was invited to Desgrandchamps’ room in a separate wing of the school — a place off limits to students — where he was served alcohol and sexually abused. Repeated incidents of abuse continued for two years until the victim left the school, the lawsuit alleges.
“Our client was always there: He was given a key to that wing of the school reserved for the religious members of the congregation,” said the man’s Montreal lawyer, Robert Kugler. “He was there at night and numerous members of the congregation saw him there — and observed that he was going into the room of Father Desgrandchamps at night.
“They knew he had a single bed in his room and none of them did anything. Nobody went into protect him. Nobody said anything.”
The allegations have not been proven in a court.
Desgrandchamps did not respond to a request for comment, but earlier this week, he told Radio-Canada that he did have sex with some of his students during his teaching career.
Desgrandchamps told the CBC there was no violence and that he did not use force. An excerpt from that interview is online.
Kugler said his client is seeking to have a class action suit approved by Quebec Superior Court because he believes other victims may exist, and he wants to help them obtain justice.
“The vast, vast majority of victims of sexual abuse will never come forward, will never disclose that they’ve been abused,” said Kugler. “And those that do come forward will only do so after they’ve suffered in silence for decades…
“In every other one of our sexual abuse class actions that we’ve taken against religious orders and boarding schools, it has always started with one person and ended with more.”
Kugler said his client has struggled with depression and addictions, and has had difficulty forming meaningful relationship in his life.
Ordained a priest in August 1963, Desgrandchamps is a member of the 800-year-old Servite Order, and came to Ottawa in his retirement to assist at St. Anthony’s parish. He taught history, English and French at Notre-Dame des Servites Colleges in Ayer’s Cliff south of Sherbrooke in the 1970s.
A spokesman for Archbishop Terrence Prendergast said he “is deeply saddened by the allegations concerning Father Desgrandchamps.” Prendergast also announced that he has suspended Desgrandchamps from performing the ministries of a priest in the Archdiocese of Ottawa.
“The archbishop is presently reviewing the situation in consultation with the Servite superior,” said Deacon Gilles Ouelette.
