Winnipeg doctor admitted in therapy to sexually abusing son, woman alleges
WARNING: This story contains description of alleged sexual assaults
The wife of a man accusing his father of sexually abusing him as a youth says she witnessed Dr. Victor Chernick, a prominent Winnipeg pediatrician, admit to the allegations and apologize decades ago.
"He did admit to molesting Richard over a number of years," Debra Stern, 56, testified before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Joan McKelvey on Friday.
Chernick, 82, was charged in 2014 with incest, indecent assault, buggery and two counts of gross indecency after his son, Richard Chernick, came forward to police. The incidents allegedly occurred in the 1970s.
Richard and his sister Sharon Chernick also brought a civil lawsuit against their father in 2014, alleging years of mental and sexual abuse by their father.
Chernick has pleaded not guilty, and none of the allegations have been proven in court.
Richard, 56, testified on Thursday that his father sexually abused him about 100 times from the time he was 12 and 17.
Last fall he waived a publication ban normally applied to identifying victims of sexual assault. A publication ban on naming Sharon was lifted on the first day of trial.
Richard's aunt, 76-year-old Robin Tyler, testified Wednesday that she had a meeting with Victor, who is her brother, and other members of the family years ago after hearing about allegations of sexual abuse.
'Great deal of relief'
Stern testified Friday at the third day of the trial.
She said she and Richard started dating in their late teens, and he opened up to her after returning to Winnipeg from a trip to the U.S.
"He told me that he had been sexually molested by his father up until just a couple days before," Stern said.
"I think there was a great deal of relief. We became much closer."
It was not my story. I was very protective of Richard … and the kids. And so no, I never said a word until 2014, when Richard went to the police.- Debra Stern
She was sworn to secrecy — Stern said that at the time, Richard threatened to kill her if she told anyone — but eventually Richard shared his allegations with her psychologist, court heard.
Stern said she and Richard presented Victor with an ultimatum — go to therapy sessions with them, or they would go to police.
'I was very protective'
Stern said she was present on about 12 occasions in therapy sessions with some combination of Richard, Sharon and Victor, among others.
Victor admitted during therapy to the abuse and she was there to witness it, Stern says, adding she didn't go to police at the time.
"It was not my story. I was very protective of Richard … and the kids. And so no, I never said a word until 2014, when Richard went to the police."
At various times, Chernick's defence lawyers, Sarah Inness and Roberta Campbell, called those meetings into question. They said the ultimatum and alleged admission is hearsay and suggested Victor was never present at the therapy sessions.
He was crying, said he was sorry … for molesting Richard.- Debra Stern
Campbell had Stern read the statement she gave police in 2013 after Richard reported the alleged abuse. In it, Campbell says Stern indicated Victor never discussed specific details of the alleged incidents in therapy when she was there.
Campbell read a question from police to Stern in the statement.
"'Did Victor ever admit in one of these sessions to what he did?' See where it says that?" Campbell said.
"Today you came and told us you talked about the acts [in therapy] … but yet you told the police just in 2013, again, 'Specifics weren't said when I was around.'"
Stern said she was still in shock that Richard finally went to the police, and that she just didn't remember the admission when she spoke with investigators.
'I was angry'
Stern and Richard married in 1984 and went on to have three children.
She said she and Richard were struggling in their relationship when she confronted Victor in 1986 or 1987.
"I was angry, so I was telling him about the effect that his behaviour had on Richard's life and his intimate relationships," she recalled.
"Molesting Richard, how it caused a great deal of shame and some mental health issues and not being able to sow his wild oats like most teenagers, and he took that away."
Echoing Richard's Thursday testimony, Stern also recalled an instance when the pair were at Richard's parents' cabin in northwestern Ontario. There, Stern alleges Victor acknowledged the abuses once more when she, Richard and his mother were present.
"I saw him as being extremely — I don't know if it was remorseful, I guess he was. He was crying, said he was sorry," Stern said, "for molesting Richard."
Though they are separated, she Richard have been living together ever since Richard went to the police in 2013 and was then hospitalized twice with depression.
'Wanted to stand by him'
Prior to that, the pair had lived apart for years and didn't communicate, except for talking about the children, Stern said. That changed when Richard told her he pressed charges against his father, court heard.
"I felt I just really needed and wanted to stand by him," Stern said, confirming Richard has experienced depression for years. "I knew how difficult this was for him to come forward."
Stern has also suffered from depression for years and lives with a variety of mobility and medical conditions — she says she's had three brain aneurysms and lives with parathyroid syndrome and fibromyalgia. Crown attorney Debbie Buors helped her move from her walker to the witness box multiple times during her testimony.
Stern said she has migraines, "brain fog" and eight broken or healing ribs due in part to acute osteoarthritis.
Along with asserting that Victor never did anything wrong, Campbell questioned Stern's credibility due to apparent discrepancies in her testimony — what she offered in court versus what she told, or didn't tell, police.
Campbell accused Stern of hoping to collect money from the lawsuit filed by Sharon and Richard because she and Richard are both broke.
Stern admitted to some financial troubles, as Richard did, though she testified, as did Richard, that the only thing she wants from the trial is for Victor to be held to account.
The trial resumes Monday.
With files from Alana Cole, Dean Pritchard, Vera-Lynn Kubinec and Katie Nicholson.
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