Dale Crampton

June 10, 2009

In 1982 Alex was a boy who had two interests which defined him; the Roman Catholic Church and hockey.

In that sense he was like many young boys in this city and this country, then and now.

He was raised with strong religious beliefs by his parents. He attended Church and participated as an altar boy. In his late childhood he met Father Dale Crampton, the pastor at his St. Maurice parish here in Ottawa. It turned out that Father Crampton also enjoyed hockey and eventually he invited young Alex over to the rectory one night to watch a game with him. Alex will always remember that night, not because of the hockey game he viewed but because as he sat in front of that television, frozen with disbelief, a highly trusted and revered person in his life sexually molested him.

Alex is now an adult with children of his own. Despite the passage of years, that night and the unanswered questions it raised still lingers. He was not the only victim of Father Crampton. In 1987 Crampton was convicted of indecently assaulting a total of seven altar boys over a decade. Alex is one of those seven. Because of the court ordered publication ban imposed on identifying the victims at that time, Alex cannot be identified publically in relation to those events.

Alex is concerned as to whether those events could ever repeat themselves. As a father his perspective is now different. In the criminal prosecution of Crampton it was learned that at least two complaints were made to the Archdiocese of Ottawa concerning Crampton's sexual behaviour with other altar boys, years before Alex was assaulted. Alex should never have been a victim.

As a victim Alex has never once been approached by the Archdiocese to assist him in his journey of healing.

He has never even received a simple apology.

Alex brings this lawsuit and holds this press conference to seek the truth as to what happened to him and others and to do his part to make sure such travesties do not occur again.

He hopes to reach out to the other victims of Father Crampton. He would like to hear from them. Alex also wants to speak to those whose complaints about Father Crampton went unanswered in order to put the pieces of this puzzle together. What happened to Father Dale Crampton is another key question. After Crampton served his meagre eight months incarceration where did he go? Did he ever serve as a priest again? Where is he now?

Events such as these are typically cloaked in secrecy because of their sexual nature and their religious dimension. This secrecy allows institutional complicity to never be identified or corrected. Accountability can only occur through transparency and truth. Today we begin the search for that truth. Ultimately, Alex hopes that the evil which befell him will be the genesis of awareness and prevention for others.

Anyone with information pertaining to this case is encouraged to call our toll-free tips line at 1-866-674-4994 or email rtalach@ledroitbeckett.com.