AM 1220 - Local

October 28, 2008 — The former head of the local Children's Aid Society did not believe Perry Dunlop's actions deserved national recognition. Former CAS Executive Director Richard Abell told the Cornwall Public Inquiry yesterday Dunlop's work did not bring "honour to Canada" and he should not receive a decoration from the government. Abell was asked to write a letter to Ottawa in 2001 to outline his thoughts on the nomination. He said the respect and appreciation Dunlop did earn by handing over the statement has been stained by a "single minded and self-promoting crusade". (Hear audio clip below) Dunlop is the former city police officer who handed an alleged victim's statement to Abell in 1993 because he was not happy with the way his force was handling the complaint. Dunlop has been heavily criticized for doing his own after hours investigation into child sex abuse allegations.

[Transcript of audio clip:  "I wanted it clearly understood that I felt he indeed deserved a huge amount of credit for the initial steps that he took, but I felt that where this whole matter went subsequently in many ways offset the good work that he’d done at the beginning."]