Sexual abuse on a farm in Montérégie: Already in prison, he is sued for $1.3 million

A Montérégie farmer who has already been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually abusing minors is now being sued by one of his victims for $1.3 million in damages.

• Read more: 'Obsessed' farmer jailed for 14 years for sexually abusing young boys

“Kenneth Marlin's actions destroyed the plaintiff's childhood and her life was forever marked by the abuse,” we read in the civil case, which was made public this Wednesday in a Montreal court.

Marlin, 65, will pay dearly for crimes committed on the family farm in the 1980s. During that time, the pedophile would lure young boys to his parents' land and befriend them. Once they had faith in him as a father or elder brother, he abused them.

Sentencing Marlin to 14 years in prison last December, Judge Joey DuBois said, “The defendant abused each victim whenever and wherever he wanted.”

Repeated abuse

In the case of the victim who filed the civil suit, the court document explains that the abuse lasted five years when the teenager was between the ages of 11 and 16.

“The first sexual assault occurred while he was stacking hay bales in a barn,” the civil suit says. This was the beginning of a long period of abuse.

While Marlene and the baby were in a truck, the sexual encounters reportedly occurred throughout the farm, sometimes several times a week. And given the pedophile's directive tone, the young man didn't dare say anything, succumbing to the aggressor's twisted desires.

As a teenager, the teenager was finally able to cut ties and “bury this experience deep within him”. It wasn't until 2022 that he broke the silence with other Marlin victims.

A wasted life

In addition to her complaint leading to a criminal conviction, the victim decided to file a civil suit to seek financial compensation for the crimes she suffered. Because after the abuse, the complainant says she developed a lot of “hate and sadness” that destroyed her life.

“For more than 10 years, he refused to talk to anyone,” says M.^e Maryse Lapointe in court document. When she saw reports of child abuse on the news, her depression worsened. It extinguished what little light he had, and he felt that he had lost the best years of his life.

Therefore, he estimates that Marlin should pay him $700,000 in moral damages, $125,000 in property damages and half a million in punitive damages.

He asks that the amount be paid “even if Kenneth Marlin declares bankruptcy” to ensure Marlin doesn't try to get out of it if there is a conviction.

If an amicable settlement is not reached, the case will soon be brought before a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec.