Who we are:

 John Swales

John was, and is a victim of sexual abuse. John’s abuse began in 1969 as a child of 10 years of age and lasted five years. John, as well as three of his siblings and many other children were sexually abused by the Rev. Barry Glendinning, an ordained Roman Catholic priest and a professor of liturgy at St. Peter's Seminary in London. Criminal proceedings against Glendinning were undertaken and resulted in his conviction and was sentenced to three years probation.

It was not until the late 1980’s that John, battling drug and alcohol abuse, began to understand that the confusion and betrayal he felt was, in fact, because he had been sexually abused. John began to take control and with the help of his family took action.

John and his family then successfully sued the Catholic Church and Glendinning for sexual abuse. The suit was brought by John, Ed and Guy Swales, their sister, Melody, and parents, Bob and Donna Swales, who sought compensation for the impact of Glendinning's sexual abuse of the brothers. 30 years after the abuse the family was successful in winning a $1,392,415 civil judgment against the Roman Catholic Diocese of London and Glendinning.

While the civil trial yielded precedent setting results John realized that a civil victory on its own would not restore his self worth and that in order to turn a totally debilitating experience into a positive one he needed to help others that had been exposed to these crimes.

Now a 47 year old successful survivor, John, a London native, works with many victims of sexual abuse, both male and female, across Ontario. John works closely with victims, allowing them in their own time to talk about their abuses, to restore a little trust and map out a journey of recovery.

John is very active in the area of sexual abuse working with victims and professional groups advocating for better understanding of the issues and to enhance support and services for victims. John’s work includes; 

• In Cornwall Ontario, John has a continuing active role with many victims, helping to create a healing environment. He is co authoring an article with a psychologist on sexual abuse and remains dedicated to seeing the Cornwall public inquiry to its conclusion.
   

• John has spoken to numerous institutions, professional organizations and public and private forums to enhance awareness and understanding of sexual abuse.
   
• John is the subject of an ongoing clinical evaluation to provide an unobstructed, view into the mind of a survivor to improve the scientific and professional knowledge on the effects and impacts of sexual abuse.
   
• John is also working on his memoirs, in consultation with a psychologist, as part of his own on-going healing process.

John joined the firm of Harrison Pensa in June of 2006 as its Sexual Abuse Services Advisor and heads, with Dave Williams, Harrison Pensa’s Managing Partner, the Sexual Abuse Services Group at Harrison Pensa.
 

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David B. Williams

Dave is the Managing Partner of Harrison Pensa and a senior litigator designated by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in Civil Litigation. His practice includes personal injury work for both plaintiffs and defendants, commercial litigation and class actions.

He was a member of the plaintiff's class action group for the Walkerton contaminated water claim. He also has a professional negligence practice representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice matters, and lawyers in negligence claims. He acts as General Counsel to Thames Valley District School Board.

Dave has taught courses on civil litigation and advocacy and practice for the Bar Admission Course. He has also published numerous conference papers on education law issues.

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Louis J. Crowley

Lou’s practice is focused on representing victims in personal injury matters, involving serious psychological and physical impairments and fatalities.

He specializes in helping persons who have sustained injuries and the devastating consequences associated with sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents and, slip and falls. Lou has significant victim experience in depression, brain and spinal cord injuries.

His extensive experience advocating on behalf of victims through court, mediation and arbitration proceedings ensures that all appropriate remedies and claims are vigourously pursued, including, disability insurance, accident benefits and compensatory and punitive damages.

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Donna Tarr

Donna has over 20 years of experience in helping victims of catastrophic personal injury, including sexual abuse. Donna has specialized in victim support services, developing and coordinating both short and long-term recovery and assistance programs. 

Donna’s expertise includes working with accident benefit schedules, the tort system and mediation to obtain the proper care and services victims need to recover and maintain a quality of life. 

Donna works directly with victims, often over periods lasting many years, to ensure a high level of personal, attentive and caring service.

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