Witness says he's tired of pointing the finger of blame at others

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

Friday, March 30, 2007 - 10:00

Local News - CORNWALL (Staff)

A man who says he was sexually abused as a child told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday he's tired of pointing fingers.

"I'm tired of blaming people," said the man. "I'm tired of pointing fingers. Sh*t happens."

Now 52 years old, the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, says he was in elementary school when he was first abused by a male teenaged neighbour.

The man told police in 1998 he believed he was six years old when Carl Allen, a teenaged boy who lived three doors down from the man's home, allegedly lured him into his house using the promise of comic books and baseball cards as bait.

Allen was never convicted of any criminal offence involving the boy, but in 2000 entered into a peace bond prohibiting any contact between the two now-adult men.

Crown attorneys attempting to put together a prosecution in relation to the man's allegations decided not to proceed with charges because of the "frailties of the case."

The complainant was "loose" on the dates, the Crown attorney wrote in a report, corroborating evidence could not be relied upon and the complainant had a "significant drug abuse problem," and a "psyche history."

The man also claimed he was sexually assaulted by a probation officer, a Crown attorney and a city priest, all of whom passed away before charges were laid or their matters were dealt with in court.

The man said when he realized Allen was not convicted in relation to his allegations, the decision helped form his opinion of the justice system.

No stranger to the court process, the man himself has been on the wrong side of the law on a number of occasions in his life.

"I thought sexual abuse was a crime," said the man, referring to the fact Allen was not punished for the alleged abuse. "Whenever I committed a crime, I had to face up to it, and so I should have."

The man said throughout his encounters with police agencies and other public institutions, he often felt things could have been handled differently. While he says he was pleased with the majority of the contact he had, it could have been better.

"It was very impersonal," he said, referring to some elements of the process. "You were just another number."

The inquiry will resume Monday, April 16.