The Vernon Military Camp.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

An Ontario man who alleges he was groomed at the Vernon cadet camp before being raped by a cadet captain in a Victoria hotel room in 1979 is suing the federal government and the alleged perpetrator.

Referred to only as A.B. in documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the man was roughly 12 years old when he joined the Canadian Cadets in 1977.

In 1979 he attended the Vernon Army Cadet Camp where he met the alleged perpetrator.

The court documents say the alleged perpetrator was a captain on the Cadet Instructors List of Cadets Canada and worked at the Vernon camp from 1979 to 1983. 

The court documents name the alleged rapist but because iNFOnews.ca was unable to contact him and he has not responded to the allegations, we have chosen not to name him.

The notice of claim says A.B. grew up in Victoria to a single "impoverished" mother and began to see the captain as a father figure.

"At the Camp, (the captain) deliberately targeted and exploited (A.B.'s) pre-existing vulnerabilities, including his need for a father figure, grooming (him) into trusting him without question," the notice of claim says. "The grooming was a deliberate process of manipulation and trust-building used by (the captain) to gain access to the (A.B.), lower (his) inhibitions, erode (his) boundaries, and create a relationship where he could coerce and later sexually exploit (A.B.), and ensure (his) loyalty and silence."

The court documents say in the fall of 1979 when A.B. was 13 or 14 years old, the captain visited Victoria where A.B. lived.

"At all material times, (the captain) knew (A.B.) lived with a single mother and that (he) wanted to spend time with (the captain) as a father figure," the court documents say.

The captain invited A.B. and two other cadets to stay overnight at his hotel, and he and A.B. shared a bed.

READ MORE: Okanagan senior who raped 6-year-old niece jailed

A.B. alleges the captain raped him that night.

The former cadet alleges the Attorney General of Canada granted the captain "the power, environment, and tools to carry out his wrongdoing."

"But for the grooming that commenced at the Camp, over which the Attorney General of Canada had full control, the rape would not have occurred," the court documents say.

A.B. says the Attorney General of Canada had a duty of care to prevent the abuse.

As a result of the abuse A.B. says he has suffered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and a multitude of other injuries including frustration and anger and a lack of self-worth.

According to CBC, A.B. reported the alleged abuse to Victoria police "a number of years ago" and although there was an investigation, the captain was not charged.

In 2022 a class action lawsuit was launched in Ontario that alleges a "systemic sexual assault, sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in the Canadian Cadet Organization."

The Ontario case says the cadets did nothing with a complaint in 2008 from a 14-year-old girl that eventually led to her cadet instructor being convicted.

READ MORE: Man pleads guilty to foiled Kamloops armed robbery

The court documents say A.B. now lives in Ontario and the captain lives in Moncton, New Brunswick.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

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