GANDER, N.L. — Two corrections officers and a dentist in Gander are facing charges in connection with an incident that happened last fall when a prisoner was brought to a Gander dental office for major dental work.
Fifty-nine-year-old Dr. Louis Bourget — originally from Bedford, N.S. — along with corrections officers Roy Goodyear, 48, of Carmanville and Ronald McDonald, 43, of Trinity are scheduled to appear in provincial court in Gander April 6 to face charges of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
The Telegram first broke the story in November when a source reported inmate Bill Harris had been the victim of a crime after he was taken to the Gander Family Dental Clinic from the Bishop’s Falls Correctional Centre by McDonald and Goodyear on Oct. 16. During the dental surgery — reportedly performed by Dr. Louis Bourget — one of the corrections staff was allegedly permitted to perform a dental procedure while the other corrections officer filmed it, and the corrections officers later distributed the video.
The incident sparked outrage and resulted in the inmate’s lawyer, Bob Buckingham, filing a civil lawsuit at Newfoundland Supreme Court in St. John’s. The lawsuit names a number of individuals, as well as the government, claiming negligence against Harris.
It states Harris was “put into a deep sedation” via intravenous sedative medicine, administered by Bourget. The surgery was completed while Harris was unconscious, it said.
Harris’s first recollection after the surgery, it added, was when he felt a bump on his head and a bruise on his cheek while being transported back to the prison.
The document said Harris was informed about the video by the prison’s assistant superintendent and the superintendent of prisons, Daniel Chafe.
On Nov. 20, Harris was advised that McDonald and Goodyear had been fired.
The lawsuit claims battery, assault and breach of trust against the corrections officers; professional negligence and a breach of contract against the oral surgeon and the oral surgeon’s office; breach of trust by the corrections services and the provincial government; as well as vicarious liability against the provincial government, as it is alleged to have happened while corrections officers were on duty.
Harris is seeking punitive damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.
When interviewed by The Telegram in December, Buckingham had said upon hearing the allegations, “My first reaction was shock and disbelief.”
Buckingham said the video came to the attention of management, and the corrections officers have been terminated.
Following a lengthy investigation, the RCMP Gander and the RCMP general investigation section, with assistance from Nova Scotia RCMP, it was announced Friday that charges had been laid.
— With files from Rosie Mullaley.
