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Blogger reacts to former priest sex assault charges

Sylvia MacEachern blogs about Canadian priests charged with molestation
Reported by Bre McAdam
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A devout Catholic with ties to Saskatchewan is using the web to warn others about molestation and corruption within her religion.

Sylvia MacEachern chronicles the lives of Canadian priests accused or convicted of sexual abuse from her home in Ottawa.

One of the men on her website is former Saskatoon priest Father Hodgson Marshall.

Marshall is already serving time in a Kingston Ontario jail for 17 convictions of sexual abuse against young boys. Now the 89 year old is facing two more charges of abusing boys at Saint Paul's Catholic High School in Saskatoon over 50 years ago.

The two alleged victims are in their sixties now, but they were only 14 when they say they were sexually abused by Marshall.

MacEachern started the website after hearing about the sex abuse scandals coming out of Europe. It was also in response to being sued for trying to expose a priest in her own Ottawa church, who was preying on young boys. Her name was later dropped off the lawsuit.

MacEachern said she was not surprised to hear about the recent charges against Marshall.

"Because I think there is enough evidence to realize that he was probably molesting everywhere he went.

"I was relieved because there are cases in which the Crown will not pursue because of the age of the accused," MacEachern said.

She also stressed that the shame should never be on the victims of abuse, and wants to take away the stigma attached to speaking out.

"It breaks my heart to see the betrayal of trust of a little boy, who wants to be a priest," she said.

Even though MacEachern dedicates so much time to her website, she remains a devout Catholic who is able to separate her religion from the men who she says "hijacked the church."

"I believe they got a foothold in, they've taken over and they have protected each other," she said.

An official with the church told News Talk Radio on Tuesday that Marshall will not be stripped of his title because that decision has to come from the Vatican and that is not likely.

To read MacEachern's website visit www.theinquiry.ca.


Edited by News Talk Radio’s Adriana Christianson with files from Ashley Wills