Five women file suit against Henry
Plaintiffs claim man found wrongfully convicted in criminal court sexually assaulted them
Five women who allege they were sexually assaulted by Ivan Henry, a man who spent 27 years behind bars before the courts found he’d been wrongfully convicted of being a serial rapist, have filed suit against the B.C. man.
In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the five women claim Henry sexually assaulted them in their Vancouver apartments during attacks that occurred from May 1981 to June 1982.
The women are only identified as Jane Doe Nos. 1 through 5 in the notice of civil claim filed in Vancouver late Friday.
“We need to hear the voice of every woman who has been sexually assaulted,” J. Scott Stanley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement released Monday.
“This lawsuit is simply about making sure we hear the voices of those Jane Does.”
Jane Doe No. 1 claims she was asleep in her East 16th Avenue apartment on May 5, 1981, when Henry entered her apartment by prying open the patio door. She says the defendant alleged that someone who lived there had ripped him off and asked about the location of her boyfriend.
“The defendant threatened Jane Doe No. 1 with a knife and sexually assaulted Jane Doe No. 1,” the suit states. “The defendant told Jane Doe No. 1 not to report him to the police because they would ask embarrassing questions.”
Similar circumstances involving sexual assaults allegedly committed by Henry are outlined in the cases of the four other women. The alleged victims claim they suffered “severe personal injuries,” including physical injury from sexual assaults, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and “moral injury.”
“The sexual assaults were committed intentionally and with reckless disregard to their effect on the plaintiffs,” the suit states. “The conduct of the defendant was calculated to inflict emotional suffering and psychological damages upon the plaintiffs.”
The suit also claims Henry has conducted himself “outrageously and maliciously,” including trying to re-victimize the plaintiffs through the court process that led to his convictions, and by attempting to contact one or more of the plaintiffs from prison.
Unspecified general, aggravated, punitive and special damages are being sought by the plaintiffs.
Henry was arrested in July 1982 and charged with three counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and five counts of indecent assault, involving eight different women.
Marilyn Sandford, a lawyer for Henry, said that given the fact that there have been two recent court decisions — the B.C. Court of Appeal overturning his conviction and the B.C. Supreme Court awarding him damages — Henry is confident any future court will make a similar finding.
No response has yet been filed to the alleged victims’ lawsuit, which contains claims that have not been tested in court.