I have accused Estabrooks of being Canada's worst pervert in the title here and in a previous post. However, I suspect he is only the worst to come to light. There are probably many others who have been sexually abusing children for more than 22 years. The man who sexually abused me when I was 3 years old was still abusing boys when I was an adult and was never caught. God only knows how many other children he messed up but I'm sure it was in the hundreds. I'm also sure that he was not an outlier among paedophiles.
Saint John, N.B. responsible for harm caused by police officer's 22 years of gay child sex abuse
Top court rejects city's request to appeal vicarious liability decision
The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal by the City of Saint John in the case of a police officer who sexually abused children decades ago.
Canada's Most Prolific Pervert
That means last year's decision by the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick will stand — that the City of Saint John is vicariously liable for the sexual abuse committed by Kenneth Estabrooks while he was a police officer.
The only thing left to be sorted out is how much victims will get paid, said Halifax lawyer John McKiggan, who acted for representative plaintiff Bobby Hayes and other class members in the lawsuit against the city.
He estimates that the suit could cost the city about $20 million.
McKiggan said individual damage awards for sexual abuse typically run from about $50,000 to $100,000 — to over $1 million for "the worst cases."
"So here in Atlantic Canada, for example, these types of cases tend to be resolved in advance of trial somewhere in the range of $200,000 to $400,000. That's not an unusual range," said McKiggan after the Supreme Court's decision was released Thursday morning.
He said the city's own private investigator came up with a potential list of hundreds who said they were abused by Estabrooks.
"So if you assume an average damage award of $200,000 and only 100 claimants, that's $20 million," said McKiggan.
"I suspect there are more than 100 survivors out there, so the city has some very significant financial peril in front of them now," he said.
St. John has a population of about 70,000, so there would likely be 20-30,000 taxpayers. That's in the ballpark of $1000 per taxpayer.
This is just the financial cost of Estabrook's evil. He destroyed an entire generation of boys, some of whom likely destroyed another generation of boys. The cost of child sex abuse on a victim's soul is beyond measure.
McKiggan isn't sure how much the city's insurance policies will cover.
So although there "likely is some insurance to cover some of these claims, it's also likely that the insurance won't be sufficient to cover all of the claims."
City considering 'next steps'
The city was asked to provide someone for an interview but responded with a one-line email: "The City was just informed of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision and will be getting advice on next steps."
Mayor Donna Reardon did not respond to an interview request by publication time.
McKiggan said the Supreme Court's decision vindicates Bobby Hayes's "long battle" to hold the city accountable for Estabrooks's actions.
Although pleased with the decision, Hayes said in an interview Thursday that "money will never undo what he's done."
While he's still haunted by his own memories of abuse suffered at the hands of Estabrooks, Hayes said he's also haunted by the stories of other victims.
He can still vividly recall standing on the corner of St. James and Charlotte streets and watching Estabrooks drive by in a police car with an eight-year-old boy in the backseat.
Hayes said the boy's tear-soaked face was pressed up against the glass as he cried out for help "because he knew what would happen when he got down to Tin Can Beach."
Standing on the street as a boy, Hayes also knew what was going to happen to Estabrooks's young passenger.
"Stuff like that sticks with me," said Hayes.
That particular victim is still around. Hayes says the man "now has a real bad drug addiction."
"I see the victims on a daily basis. I see the the damage that it's done through alcohol, drug abuse, suicides."
Lawsuit began in 2013
Hayes has been fighting on behalf of victims for more than a decade.
Estabrooks was charged criminally in 1999 with four counts of indecent assault and eventually convicted and sentenced to six years in prison, where he died in 2005.
Hayes, as the representative plaintiff, began his lawsuit against the city in 2013.
In March 2023, a Court of King's Bench decision said the city was not vicariously liable for harm caused, but that decision was overturned last September on appeal.
In its decision last year, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick said Estabrooks "used the power and status of his job to sexually abuse vulnerable and impressionable children."
"When Estabrooks initiated the abuse, which was often at the most repugnant end of the spectrum, he was wearing a City-issued police uniform and badge, and in control of a City patrol car, his City-issued handgun almost invariably visible and always within reach."
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