A class-action lawsuit by those who say they were sexually abused by the late Kenneth Estabrooks could be heading to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Saint John council passed a resolution on Monday night seeking permission to appeal a decision made by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in August.
The city had appealed a February 2017 decision by the Court of Queen’s Bench certifying the lawsuit and allowing the victims to sue the city as a group, but the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s ruling.
It also amended the list of common issues by removing items relating to an alleged fiduciary duty.
After Monday night’s meeting, Mayor Don Darling said they have been told by legal counsel there are grounds to take this case to the Supreme Court.
Council passed a resolution tonight to support seeking permission to appeal a decision made by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal last month, which allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) September 10, 2018
“The advice has been that that’s the right move to make, from a legal perspective, and council has agreed with that tonight,” Darling said.
Back in 2013, private investigators from Toronto hired by the city to look into the case revealed they found 263 people, mostly boys, may have been sexually abused by Estabrooks.
The former Saint John police officer was transferred to the city works department when the sexual abuse came to light in 1975 but was not prosecuted at that time.
Estabrooks was convicted on four counts of indecent assault in 1999 and served jail time before his death in 2005.
Bobby Hayes, the founder of the Joshua Group, is named the plaintiff in the class-action suit.
