Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet has emerged victorious in his legal battle as a Superior Court Justice ruled in his favor in a defamation lawsuit against a woman who made allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
During the court proceedings, Justice Martin Castonguay concluded that the accusations made by Paméla Groleau were baseless, leading to an order for her to compensate Cardinal Ouellet with a sum of $100,000.
Groleau had claimed that Ouellet had inappropriately touched her without her consent on multiple occasions between 2008 and 2010, while she was involved in training or working as a lay pastoral agent within the church.
In his ruling, Castonguay highlighted inconsistencies in Groleau’s statements, pointing out that she altered her narrative multiple times, eventually indicating that she considered only one of the alleged incidents to be a form of sexual assault.
Moreover, the judge emphasized that Groleau’s actions had exacerbated the harm caused to Ouellet, particularly by including his name in a broader lawsuit against the Quebec archdiocese, predominantly centered around clergy or lay individuals accused of pedophilic behavior.
Following the favorable outcome, Cardinal Ouellet has expressed his intention to donate the awarded damages of $100,000 to organizations dedicated to combating instances of sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous communities in Canada.
