Abuse remembered years later
Witnesses testify in Grollier Hall sex trial
Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Aug 10/98) - A former Grollier Hall senior boys' supervisor has plead guilty in NWT Supreme Court in Inuvik to nine sex-related charges for incidents taking place in the 1960s and 1970s.

Witnesses are currently giving testimony in 25 other incidents of alleged abuse to which Paul Leroux, 58, pleaded not guilty.

The most damning testimony came Aug. 7 from a witness who said Leroux had pointed a knife at him from about 2.5 metres in Leroux's office.

"A chill went down my spine," the witness said of the event.

According to the witness, Leroux followed up holding a knife and demanding the boy tell no one of their acts of oral sex and Leroux's attempts to continue the sexual relationship. The witness could not recall his age at the time of the incident, but said Leroux took photographs afterward when he was wearing either pyjamas or nothing at all.

The witness then identified himself in a photograph seized from Leroux's Vancouver apartment in March 1997, and said the photo was taken by Leroux after sex.

Sometimes the witness said he went to Leroux's room voluntarily for money.

Earlier, witnesses gave testimony of Leroux touching them sexually at the former Catholic-run school.

"Paul was a nice guy. He was a friendly guy. I wasn't scared to be in there. I liked Paul to visit with," said another witness who claimed he, too, was coerced into giving Leroux oral sex.

Under cross-examination, the witness agreed with Leroux's lawyer, Jim Brydon, who suggested the witness' "entire memory (of the alleged abuse) was made up of patches of memory interspersed with patches of non-memory."

"That's fair to say," said the witness who, like most witnesses so far, admitted they had blanked out memories of the alleged abuse for about two decades.

Some of the charges against Leroux were based upon his photographs of the sex acts.

Justice John Vertes questioned crown prosecutor Scott Cooper about the relevance of having every witness go through the series of photos seized from Leroux, especially in cases where the witness is not depicted.

Less time was then taken with witnesses viewing photos and recounting details.

One witness did not want to see Leroux, so a special illuminated box screen was installed to shield the witness' vision.

The trial continues this week.