Lalo victim wants more compensation

Nova Scotia's highest court is being asked to increase compensation paid to one of the victims of notorious pedophile Cesar Lalo, a former provincial probation officer.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal heard arguments Monday in the case of L.M.M., who sued the province and was awarded $375,000 in damages by a judge in February 2010.

At the time, L.M.M. said that he was "horribly disappointed."

His lawyer, Mark Knox, argued Monday that the award should have been higher.

For example, he said, another victim, who can only be identified as B.M.G., was awarded $640,000 in the first case of this kind to go through the courts.

But the province said the two cases cannot be compared, and government lawyers argued that L.M.M.'s award should be reduced.

Knox wouldn't put an exact dollar figure on this case. But he did point out that the award to L.M.M. was at the very bottom of the scale for these types of cases.

L.M.M. was only awarded $250,000 for lost and future earnings, in part because his employment history has been so spotty. 

Knox said L.M.M. hasn't been able to hold a job — a direct result of the abuse he suffered

"I would describe him today, as the trial judge described him, which is a very disturbed person. Someone who is said to be quite intelligent, someone who is a hard worker," Knox said.

"But he's got these consequences that have been attributed by experts in the court to the abuse which hold him back and cause him to lose employment and cause him to be angry and cause him to just suffer financially and emotionally."

By comparison, B.M.G., who was sexually abused four times over three months, was awarded $500,000 for lost and future wages, Knox said — double what L.M.M. received. 

The Court of Appeal reserved decision in the case.

Lalo was convicted of sexually assaulting 29 boys from 1973 to 1989 while working as a probation officer and social worker in the province.

He was released on parole in September 2009 after serving five years of a nine-year prison sentence.

L.M.M. was eight years old when he met Lalo. He said the abuse began when he was 13.

Nine other victims have settled their cases with the province without going to court. The amount of those settlements was not disclosed.