A former Dryden resident says she lost 14 years of her life after a Army Cadet instructor preyed on her when she joined the local program as a 14-year-old.
Hilary Lockhart and her mother have both filed class-action lawsuits against Cadets Canada.
Hilary, now 28, told CKDR News that says she was groomed by a a male instructor and lured online, and her attempts to report the abuse to a female instructor were ignored.
It was her mother who read the online conversations and put a stop to it right away.
Lockhart says the man was convicted for child luring but received a minimal sentence.
Dryden Police Lay Child Luring Charge
“He gets to go on living his life like nothing every happened and I was stuck in the same spot for 14 years where I felt like I was to blame because that’s what the program ultimately led me to believe.”
She adds, “I was treated very awfully after he was convicted. That really sinks into your mind set when your that age, where you feel like it was you that organized this and it was you that let this go on when in reality I realized I wasn’t to blame at all.”
Lockhart says one reason she decided to launch a class-action lawsuit is partly because she has a 14-year-old sister.
“When I look at her, I can’t believe that they allowed this to happen to a 14 year old girl. Ultimately I can never get back the last 14 years of my life. He stole that from me and my family and Cadets helped him do it by not believing me when I came forward and told them that this was going on.”
Hilary adds, “I want to make a change and let the government know, that you know what, this is not OK, this is not acceptable. As an organization that is in charge of children’s safety, they need to do better. In my mind parents and caregivers should have the privilege of this information, to know that this stuff happens.”
She notes several other victims have come forward to join the suit.
The lawsuit was filed in June and there has been no finding on its merits and nothing has been proven in court.
After suffering through years of anguish, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health issues, Hilary Lockhart now lives in Toronto and is going to York University and plans on applying to Law School next year.
She says, “I just realized that in order for me to be able to move on with my life, I need to just close the door on this and this is my way of doing that. We’re really hoping that this initiates the government to take some accountability for what they’ve done and maybe implement some resources and some support systems and some preventative measures to make sure this never happens again.”
To hear the full interview with Hilary Lockhart, visit the Audio link below:
