AXA Insurance Canada is seeking the return of $10 million in sex abuse settlements paid to the Roman Catholic diocese of London, Ontario, saying the church covered up the actions of several pedophile priests for decades, thus exposing the insurer to heightened risk.
In a 2016 Superior Court document, the insurer (now owned by Intact Financial Corp.) claimed the diocese hid the sex predators and their misdeeds by moving them through different parishes and duties. AXA said it would not have insured the diocese if it was aware of the church’s misleading tactics, according to TheStar.com.
The insurer cited five infamous cases to prove its point, including the case of notorious sex offender Charles Sylvestre, who admitted sexually assaulting 47 girls over four decades while working as a priest in the diocese.
“The diocese of London, consistent with the policies and practices of the Roman Catholic church more broadly, engaged in a practice of concealing reports of child sexual abuse by members of the diocese’s clergy, and then assigning the priests in question to different parishes in the diocese, thereby providing the priests with further opportunity to commit sexual assaults upon children within the new parish,” AXA’s court document reads.
It continues: “If the diocese had disclosed the information it had concerning Sylvestre and [John] Harper, Great American [AXA’s predecessor] would have refused to provide a policy of insurance or any renewal, would have refused to insure against liability arising from assault and battery, would have included appropriate exclusions, and/or would have increased the quantum of the premium charged given that this information dramatically affected the risk.”
The battle between AXA and the London diocese has been ongoing since 2008, when the diocese sued AXA for breach of contract. It claims the insurer’s predecessor Great American provided the diocese coverage for bodily injury claims from 1963 to 1971, but that it refused to pay settlements totalling $874,000 in two sex abuse lawsuits involving John Harper.
According to the AXA court document, the insurer claims no Great American insurance policy has ever been found for the London diocese. AXA also alleges that if a policy did exist, any claims would be void because of “material misrepresentation and/or non-disclosure” from the diocese, which it claims, “dealt with the allegations of sexual assault by these priests in secrecy as required by Canon Law.”
The insurer says the diocese knew Sylvestre was sexually abusing little girls by at least 1962, which would have been before the Great American insurance policy was allegedly issued.
“Sexual assaults by Sylvestre and Harper, and the subsequent placement of these priests into positions of trust and authority in relation to children was information material to the risk allegedly insured by Great American,” AXA says in the court document. “The diocese failed to disclose that information to Great American at the time the diocese allegedly applied for and obtained insurance coverage and renewals.”
AXA is countersuing the London dioceses for the $10 million paid to settle previous lawsuits launched by sex abuse victims. The case remains active.
