A former Anglican priest convicted of sexually abusing four First Nations boys was set to hear from the victims of his actions on Tuesday, but proceedings have been pushed back again to next month.
The victim impact statements were to be delivered in a London courtroom just months after David Norton was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.
Norton’s case involved men who had said the 72-year-old had abused them while they were altar boys at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Chippewa of the Thames First Nation in the 1970s and ’80s.
The victims came from troubled backgrounds and grew to see Norton as father figure who gave them attention and affection.
Norton, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, testified earlier in the trial that he’d invite the boys over to his apartment frequently to “treat them” to things like day trips, movies and food that their parents couldn’t afford. He also told the court the boys would wear their street clothes to bed and that he had no physical contact with them beyond hugs.
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The victims, however, have said Norton would give them pajamas to sleep in and would sleep in their beds. They testified Norton would kiss them on the lips and initiate physical contact like rubbing their thighs and that they’d wake up groggy from sleepovers covered in a white substance they later realized to be semen.
Victim impact statements were initially scheduled for January, but a delay saw them pushed back to Tuesday. On Tuesday, the London Free Press reported that proceedings would be pushed back another month, to Mar. 18, because Justice Lynda Templeton had fallen ill and was unable to attend.
A separate case saw Norton plead guilty in August 2018 to sexually abusing a young boy in the 1990s.
For that crime, Norton is currently serving a four-year sentence.
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