Children in the care of a Manitoba non-profit were sexually abused and forced to spend days in isolation, and one girl killed herself after major gaps in her care, according to new court documents filed as part of a proposed class action lawsuit against Marymound Inc.

First filed in 2023, the suit names Marymound, the Manitoba government and the Réseau Compassion Network. It alleges that for decades children in care of the social services organization faced widespread abuse that was ignored by the government and Marymound staff.

Several of the students said they were sexually assaulted by staff at Marymound. One former student alleged they lived in constant fear of being “beaten, tackled and restrained.”

Another alleged that when she was 13 years old, she was sexually assaulted by a man who was visiting another resident.

The court filings documented the “callous” response by staff to the assault, who wrote in her file the 13-year-old “learned the hard way what the consequences can be with casual sexual activity.”