Pediatrician acquitted of sexually abusing own son
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$19 $0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then billed as $19 every four weeks (new subscribers and qualified returning subscribers only). Cancel anytime.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/12/2018 (1927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After a lengthy court process, a former prominent Winnipeg pediatrician has been acquitted of sexually abusing his son.
Victor Chernick, 82, was found not guilty Tuesday morning by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Joan McKelvey, who reached the verdict after hearing all of the evidence presented during Chernick’s trial in October. Chernick was accused of sexual offences against his son Richard Chernick between 1975 to 1979, starting when Richard was 12.
Richard testified his father sexually molested him about 100 times, and when he took the stand, Victor adamantly denied doing so, saying he considered those actions “repugnant.” McKelvey decided it would be “dangerous” to convict the elder Chernick in this “classic he said/he said situation.”
Victor Chernick’s testimony was “generally credible” but on its own it wasn’t enough to raise a reasonable doubt about his guilt, McKelvey said. She decided Richard Chernick’s testimony was “somewhat credible,” but she pointed out flaws in his account of events from 40 years ago, including that when he testified about his father admitting the abuse to him as an adult, he couldn’t recall the exact words used. Richard also couldn’t remember his mother’s reaction when he disclosed the alleged abuse to her, other than that she was not supportive of his disclosure.
During the trial, Richard’s aunt and ex-wife testified for the Crown, while Victor Chernick’s brother Robert testified in his defence. McKelvey rejected parts of the testimonies in support of Richard and decided Robert Chernick’s account was believable and that he wasn’t “blindly supporting his brother.”
“This matter is distinctive by virtue of its emotional impact on what has become for many years a dysfunctional family group. In an evaluation of this case, it is clear that there are only two individuals who know what did or did not transpire between them,” McKelvey said.
Chernick initially faced sexual-abuse charges related to Richard and his daughter Sharon, but charges involving Sharon were judicially stayed after Victor Chernick’s defence team launched several legal challenges prior to the start of his trial. Sharon first went to police in the early 1990s about the alleged abuse, and Chernick was charged and committed to stand trial in 1993, before those charges were stayed.
In 2014, Richard and his sister Sharon Chernick launched a civil suit against their father seeking damages for years of sexual abuse they accused him of committing against them. The civil process was on hold pending the criminal trial, and both Richard and Sharon said Tuesday they no longer plan to pursue it.
“Not because of the decision, but because I want to move on with my life. I just want to put this all behind me,” Richard said. “I think I did that about a year ago already and I wasn’t even sure what was going to come today,” he said.
“I’m finding it very hard and I’ll never put it behind me,” Sharon said.
Victor Chernick did not speak to reporters who sought comment from him after the judge delivered her decision.
“Obviously we’re pleased with the verdict and our client’s maintained his innocence all along,” defence lawyer Roberta Campbell said.
Now retired, Chernick was an internationally recognized pediatrician who specialized in treating children’s respiratory conditions. In the 1970s, he was chief pediatrician at Winnipeg’s Children’s Hospital, head of pediatrics at University of Manitoba’s faculty of medicine and a visiting professor at Harvard University.
katie.may@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Katie May
Reporter
Katie May is a general-assignment reporter for the Free Press.