Victims not to blame for abuse, judge reminds inquiry witness

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

18 November 2006

Terri Saunders

A judge reminded a witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Friday he was not to blame for the sexual abuse he suffered as a teenager.

"As a child, you were not to blame for any of this," Comm. Normand Glaude told Albert Roy. "As an adult, you should know nobody here blames you for taking your time in coming forward."

Roy, 46, was sexually abused by two probation officers when he was 16 years old. He spent part of Friday testifying at the inquiry which is looking into public institutional response to historic allegations of child abuse in the Cornwall area.

More than a decade went by between when the abuse happened in 1976 and his disclosure of the assaults to a medical professional in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Roy said he still struggles with the fact he kept the abuse hidden for so long. "I still haven't dealt with the fact it took so long (to come forward)," he said. "I feel responsible for some of the other people (who were abused by the probation officers.)"

Roy has also said he felt uncomfortable while being interviewed by an Ontario Provincial Police officer about the abuse, but admitted he had difficulty trusting men in general.

During cross-examination, Roy was asked by a lawyer representing the Ontario Provincial Police Association about the troubles he had interacting with men.

"Any male . . . had the potential to be a molester in your mind?" asked Mark Wallace.

"That's right," said Roy. "That's the way I felt, yes."

Roy said he felt uncomfortable because the officer sat in a chair directly in front of him and wouldn't allow him to have eye contact with two city police officers whom he trusted.

"As soon as (the OPP officer) sat me down, I felt like I had done something wrong," said Roy, "like I was the criminal and I was going to have to answer to something.

Roy also spent part of Friday consulting with a lawyer regarding a portion of his testimony dealing with contact he had with Perry Dunlop, a former city police officer long credited by many members of the community as the person who blew the whistle on attempts by police and church officials to cover up abuse allegations made against a city priest in the early 1990s.

Last week, Roy was questioned about the fact he was called to a meeting by Dunlop and asked whether he wanted to file a civil suit in relation to his abuse. Roy has suggested there were other victims at a meeting with a lawyer, but has not yet answered questions regarding exactly who the victims were and what was said between the group and Dunlop.

On Friday, the lawyer who was present at the meeting in question, John Morris, told the inquiry Roy would be prepared to answer limited questions about the meeting, but would not reveal specific details of abuse told to him by victims.

Roy is expected to continue his testimony when the inquiry resumes Nov. 27.