Cesar Lalo victim angry lawsuit against Nova Scotia has dragged on 20 years

A victim of one of Nova Scotia's most notorious pedophiles is angry his legal case is dragging on more than 20 years after he launched a lawsuit against his abuser and the province.

The man who CBC is only identifying as Bruce was 11 years old in 1975 when he was arrested for shoplifting two pairs of sneakers from a Woolco department store in downtown Halifax. He was handed six months probation for his crime.

• Convicted child abuser Cesar Lalo's release conditions loosened
• Lalo victim awarded $250,000

And that's when he fell into the clutches of Cesar Lalo, who worked as a probation and parole officer for the Nova Scotia government.

Lalo was eventually found guilty of sexually assaulting 29 boys from 1973 to 1989 and was sentenced to nine years in prison. The boys had been sent to him in his role as a probation officer and social worker.

Those convictions represent only a portion of Lalo's victims. The Crown stopped prosecuting cases after it had enough convictions to apply to have Lalo declared a long-term offender.

'I just kept it inside'

Bruce was one of the cases that was not prosecuted. He said he was abused by Lalo almost every time he went to meet him.

"And he always told me and threatened me that if I told anyone they'd send me to Shelburne," Bruce said in an interview Friday with CBC News. "So I couldn't tell my mom, my dad, nobody. I just kept it inside for a number of years."

Shelburne was the provincial jail facility for young male offenders at the time Bruce was arrested. The jail had a notorious reputation and was itself the subject of abuse complaints.

"It's been a total nightmare for me," Bruce said. "I've been through so much over the years since I've been abused by Lalo."

Bruce admits he's been in trouble with the law since his shoplifting conviction, but he says he's had no problems for at least 15 years. And he blames his troubles on the traumatic experience of his encounters with Lalo.

"It's been a living hell. But I dealt with it."

Now, to complicate matters, Bruce says he's embroiled in a dispute with the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and his original lawyer for delays in handling his case against Lalo and the province.

Missed deadlines

Bruce said his lawyer missed deadlines, which prompted the province to go to court to have portions of his lawsuit dismissed. Bruce has complained to the barristers' society about the way his case was handled.

"I'm African-Nova Scotian, I've been dealing with this with the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society for six years," he said.

"I'm saying: how long does it take to settle a claim?"

The society's director of professional responsibility, Victoria Reese, said in an email to CBC News that the complaints process is confidential.

The society will not confirm or deny a complaint has been filed unless it results in charges and referral to a public hearing, or there's a decision to suspend, restrict the practice, or reprimand a lawyer.

Reese also said that there has never been an issue of unreasonable delay with the society's complaints process.

The province lost two lawsuits filed by two of Lalo's victims and was ordered to pay compensation to both of them. The province has also settled with other victims without them taking their cases to court.

But not Bruce. He now has a court date in January of next year in which he hopes to finally get some resolution.

As for Lalo, he is now living in the Ottawa area, and still under court-ordered supervision. He was released from prison in 2009 after serving five years of his sentence. However, he was reincarcerated several times for failing to abide by the terms of his long-term supervision order.

A spokeswoman for Nova Scotia's Department of Justice said Friday the province will not comment on settlements.