St. John Class Action Lawsuit for Sexual Abuse

Estabrooks Abuse Class Action

McKiggan Hebert Lawyers in Halifax and Koskie Minsky LLP in Toronto commenced a class action against the City of Saint John on behalf of individuals who allege that they suffered injury, loss or damage as a result of being sexually abused by Kenneth Estabrooks in the City of Saint John.

The Class includes: “All persons who allege that they suffered injury, loss or damage as a result of being sexually abused by Kenneth Estabrooks in the City of Saint John between January 1, 1953 and November 1, 1975.”

We are pleased to share that the parties have reached a Settlement in this class action. A copy of the Settlement can be viewed here.

The Settlement must be approved by the Court before any claims can be made. There will be a Settlement Approval Hearing on March 12, 2026 at 9 a.m. Atlantic Time in person at the court located at 10 Peel Plaza, Saint John, New Brunswick.

The deadline to object to the proposed Settlement is February 15, 2026. You may submit a completed Objection Form to Class Counsel ONLY if you want to OBJECT to the proposed Settlement, Class Counsel Fees, and/or Honorarium. The Objection Form is not a Claim Form. Claim Forms are not yet available. You can download the Objection Form here.

If you wish to make a Claim, you are not required to do anything until after the Settlement is approved. Check this website regularly after the Settlement Approval Hearing to see if the Settlement has been approved. More information is available in the court-approved Notice which can be viewed here.

John McKiggan retained to file class action against City of Saint John

After 12 years of litigation, the parties have reached a proposed settlement in this class action. The settlement is subject to approval by the court which is expected to take place in January or February 2026.

To view the Short Form Notice, click here.
Pour consulter l’avis abrégé, cliquez ici.

John McKiggan has been retained by a group of the survivors who allege they were sexually abused by former Saint John police officer Ken Estabrooks. The proposed class action against the City of Saint John and the Saint John Police Force alleges the City and the Police Force are liable for sexual abuse by Ken Estabrooks that continued over several decades. The claim will allege that Estabrooks was caught and confessed but the City and the Police Force covered up his sexual abuse and moved him to other duties with the City of Saint John.John McKiggan has been representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse for two decades. McKiggan says that this unfortunate story is simply more of the same:

“The institution may be different, but the story is the same. In my decades of representing survivors of childhood abuse, I have found almost invariably that employers or people in authority were aware the abusers were preying on vulnerable children. But rather than to report the offender to the authorities, employers and institutions would quietly move the abuser and allow the abuse to continue.

Estabrooks is dead so his victims cannot seek justice through the criminal courts. They hope that this class action will provide them with some measure of accountability and closure.”

Timeline of Abuse

1953 – 1999	Ken Estabrooks joins the Saint John Police Force at the age of 25. He remains on the Force for 22 years, until 1975. He continued to be employed in the City’s Work’s department, repairing tires, until 1999.
1957 – 1960	Estabrooks begins sexually abusing a six-year old boy. The abuse continued for several years. Estabrooks was convicted of molesting the boy in 1999.
1973 – 1978	Estabrooks molests a thirteen-year old boy for approximately two (2) years. In 1999, Estabrooks was convicted of sexual assault pertaining to his abuse of this teenage boy.
1974 – 1982	For almost ten year, Estabrooks sexually abuses a young boy, starting when the child was approximately ten years old. Estabrooks was convicted of assaulting the child in 1999.
1975	Two boys complain to SJ police that Estabrooks had been sexually assaulting them. After an internal investigation, Estabrooks provides a written confession to the police. However, no criminal charges are laid and Saint John Police Chief Eric Ferguson transfers Estabrooks to a job at the Public Works Department of Saint John city.
1997	Five children, now adults, file criminal complaints alleging Estabrooks sexually assaulted them as children.
1998	New Brunswick Police Commission conducts investigation into allegations of a cover-up by Saint John Police. The Police Commission Report concludes that the 1975 police investigation was “unprofessional and allowed a serious sex offender to go unpunished”.
	Since Estabrooks was convicted of sexual assaults committed after 1975 it is clear that the Police Department’s failure to act Estabrooks’s confession that he was a sexual abuser in 1975 resulted in further acts of sexual abuse against innocent children.
1998	Estabrooks is criminally charged with five counts of indecent assault on five boys, now male adults, and one girl, now an adult female. The alleged abuse happened over almost three decades between 1957 and 1982.
1999	Estabrooks convicted of four (4) charges of sexual assault and sentenced to six (6) years in prison.
Oct. 2005	Estabrooks dies.
2012 – 2013	More victims come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Ken Estabrooks.
Aug. 2012	City of Saint John hires an independent private investigator to investigate the nature and extent of Estabrooks’s crimes and allegations of cover-up by the Police.
2013	Estabrooks survivors file a class action against the City of Saint John and the Saint John Police Department.

More Information

If you or a member of your family was a victim of sexual abuse by Ken Estabrooks, you can call McKiggan Hebert at 902-706-2298 or 902-706-2298 (Toll Free in Atlantic Canada) to get more information today!

Other Class Action Lawsuits

You can see other class action lawsuits we are involved with by clicking on our Class Action page. You can also view our successfully completed Class Actions.