Lawyers in Horne case return to Baffin this week

IQALUIT — Lawyers representing Edward Horne’s sexual abuse victims say they are pleased so far with the progress of their legal action against the governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

“Right now, we are where we hoped to be at this point in the process,” lawyer Geoffrey Budden of Mount Pearl, Nfld. said this week.

On Jan. 22, Budden filed a statement of claim in the Nunavut Court of Justice alleging that territorial government officials failed to protect Horne’s victims from sexual abuse, and failed to provide them with adequate care after the abuse was exposed.

Budden, with the help of New Jersey lawyer Stephen Rubino, is seeking a negotiated settlement with the two territorial governments.

The two lawyers were in the Baffin region this week to meet with territorial government officials and to interview Nunavut residents who have come forward with information about Edward Horne’s activities since news of their lawsuit was reported in Nunatsiaq News last January.

The two lawyers said Justice John Vertes of the Northwest Territories Supreme Court has been designated as the “co-ordinating judge” for the case.

Although they wouldn’t comment on the substance of their discussions with government officials this week, Budden said they’ve “established good and open lines of communication with them.”

As for the nature and amount of the compensation package that they are seeking, Budden and Rubino would not state any dollar figures.

But they have said in the past that they would seek amounts that are consistent with awards in similar cases in Canada.

Edward Horne, who worked as a teacher and education consultant in the Baffin region between 1971 and 1985, was on two occasions convicted of various sex charges involving the molestation of numerous Inuit boys in Sanikiluaq, Kimmirut, Cape Dorset and Iqaluit during that period.

People with information about Horne’s activities may contact Budden by making a collect call to his office in Mount Pearl, Nfld. at 1-709-747-0077.

Budden’s e-mail address is gbudden@buddenmorrislaw.nf.net.

People with such information may also make collect calls to the office of his colleague, Stephen Rubino, in Margate, New Jersey, at 1-609-487-9864.

Rubino’s e-mail address is scr@rossandrubino.com.