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“In Depth” on Cornwall Public Inquiry

In Depth

Cornwall public inquiry

The road to the Cornwall Public Inquiry

Last Updated Nov. 6, 2007

CBC News

In 1992, a former altar boy came forward to say he had been sexually abused by two Catholic priests in the late 1960s.  [theinquiry.ca: that should be a priest and a probation officer]

The Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese agreed to pay him $32,000 in exchange for a vow of silence. The man then refused to co-operate with police and the investigation was dropped.

The Children's Aid Society pursued the case anyway, after a local police officer — Perry Dunlop — handed over the original complaint. Dunlop was disciplined for speaking out. Cornwall police investigated his concerns, but no charges were laid.

In 1997, a citizens group handed over written affidavits from alleged victims to Ontario's attorney general. The Ontario Provincial Police were persuaded to pick up the case. "Project Truth" was set up. Over its four years, the investigation led to more than 100 charges from gross indecency to sexual assault. A total of 15 people were charged.

But the OPP concluded there was no organized ring of pedophiles preying on Cornwall's youth.

"It doesn't mean it was a ring, just because the same person may or may not have been victimized by two different people," Det.-Sgt. Jim Miller said on Aug. 23, 2001, in announcing the end of the investigation.

A spokesperson for the Cornwall police force said Project Truth's conclusion that there was no pedophile ring lifted a cloud of suspicion over the city's police force — a force that had been accused of covering up the existence of the ring.

Despite all the charges laid in Project Truth and other sex abuse investigations that came before and after it, only a handful of men were ever convicted.

Some of the other suspects died before their cases got to trial. Others were either acquitted or their cases were tossed out. The last involved Jacques Leduc, who was once the lawyer for Cornwall's Roman Catholic archdiocese.

On Oct. 18, 2004, a judge stayed eight charges against Leduc because of unreasonable delays in his case. It was the second time the charges against him had been stayed. It marked the end of the legal road for Project Truth.

Premier keeps promise

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had promised to get to the bottom of the allegations in Cornwall. Six months after the last court case wrapped, McGuinty announced that he was establishing the Cornwall Public Inquiry. That was on April 14, 2005.

Justice G. Normand Glaude was asked to chair the inquiry. He's been an Ontario court judge since 1990. In 2000, he was appointed regional senior judge for the Northeast Region of Ontario.

Under his supervision, the inquiry opened on Feb. 13, 2006.

In Depth

Cornwall public inquiry

Sorting fact from fiction in the sex abuse scandal

Last Updated Nov. 6, 2007

CBC News

On Feb. 13, 2006, a public inquiry opened in Cornwall, Ont., into a case that has dogged the region for decades. It involved allegations that a ring of pedophiles had operated in the eastern Ontario community since the late 1950s.

There had been sordid tales that the ring passed its victims among its members, which allegedly included members of the region's Roman Catholic clergy, police and probation officers, and other professionals in the community.

Police investigations, including the high-profile Ontario Provincial Police probe Project Truth, yielded more than 100 charges against more than two dozen men. Only a handful of them were convicted, and police found no evidence of an organized ring of pedophiles.

On April 14, 2005, six months after the last Project Truth court case wrapped up, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that he was establishing the Cornwall public inquiry.

Justice G. Normand Glaude, regional senior judge for the Northeast Region of Ontario, was asked to chair the public commission.

Glaude's mandate is divided into two separate concurrent phases:

·        To hold public hearings into events surrounding allegations of abuse of young people in Cornwall, to examine the response of the justice system and other public institutions to the allegations, and to make recommendations.

·        To work with residents of Cornwall to facilitate healing and reconciliation within the community.

Fifteen groups were granted standing at the public hearings and more than 70,000 documents were filed as exhibits.

As of mid-October 2007, 80 witnesses had testified, including:

·        Experts on topics ranging from child sexual abuse to local demography.

·        Victims and alleged victims.

·        Community members who were not victims but who had information about the allegations, who helped victims or who drew attention to the allegations.

The final group of witnesses scheduled to testify include representatives of institutions that responded to the allegations, such as police, the Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, schools and the Children's Aid Society.

Their testimony is expected to be completed by Aug. 1, 2008. After that, written and oral submissions will be accepted from the parties involved and Glaude will prepare a report on Phase 1 as Phase 2 continues.

Glaude's mandate is not to find criminal liability. His mission is to find out what happened and — if there was anything sinister — to make sure it never happens again.

In Depth

Cornwall public inquiry

The hearings

Last Updated Nov. 6, 2007

CBC News

The Cornwall Inquiry Public Hearings

When commissioner Normand Glaude opened the Cornwall public inquiry hearings on Feb. 13, 2006, he said it would be a "lengthy and sometimes difficult process."

It proved to be lengthier and more difficult than many anticipated.

Almost immediately, lawyers for the Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall put forward a motion to block access to its internal records.

It was the first of many motions that put witness testimony on hold time and again, delaying and dragging out the proceedings.

In May 2006, the diocese lost its bid to be considered a community organization instead of a public institution, opening it to the same level of public scrutiny as police and the Children's Aid Society.

Legal challenges mounted as the inquiry began hearing from sexual abuse victims in October 2006.

Lawyers for Rev. Charles MacDonald, a priest accused but never convicted of sexual abuse, worked their way through the Ontario court system, seeking a ban on his identity in media reports about the testimony of alleged victims despite assurances that the inquiry was not a criminal trial.

The diocese itself sought an identity ban on behalf of another priest.

Those challenges, along with other publication bans and the information withheld from the media during the hearings, led members of the media to accuse the inquiry of not being "truly public."

More than a dozen motions cause delays

By November 2006, more than a dozen motions had tied up the proceedings — far more than the one or two brought forward in previous provincial inquiries.

At that point, Peter Engelmann, lead counsel for the inquiry, blamed the motions for putting the hearings behind schedule and estimated they would continue long after their previously anticipated end in June 30, 2007. He added that the large number of documents filed as exhibits — more than 70,000 — was also a factor, particularly since they weren't always filed on time.

Lawyers' motions weren't the only hurdles faced by the inquiry.

The commission was also criticized by those who said they had been sexually abused. They complained about the way they were questioned by lawyers while on the witness stand. After one witness stormed off during cross-examination, Engelmann warned lawyers that the inquiry is not a trial.

Key witness stonewalls

Another major setback came in September 2007, when a key witness refused to testify.

Former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop blew the whistle on an apparent coverup of abuse allegations in 1993, when he overheard some police sergeants discussing a former altar boy who had been paid $32,000 by the Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall to drop his sexual abuse complaint against two priests. Dunlop handed a sexual abuse complaint to the Children's Aid Society against orders from superiors, leading to an OPP investigation and eventually the Cornwall inquiry itself.

Dunlop twice refused to testify at the public inquiry, saying he believed the inquiry is not about finding the truth and he had lost faith in a justice system that treated him as a bad guy.

Glaude ruled that Dunlop had no good legal reason to refuse testimony and referred his case to the Ontario Divisional Court, which is to determine whether Dunlop is in contempt of court.

Testimony from others involved in the investigations continues to be heard.

In Depth

Cornwall public inquiry

Timeline

Last Updated Nov. 6, 2007

CBC News

Oct. 9, 2007

Commissioner Normand Glaude says the inquiry will ask that a contempt charge be brought against key witness Perry Dunlop after he refuses again to testify. In a prepared statement, Dunlop says he believes the inquiry is a "lynch mob" focused on him.

CBC STORY: Cornwall sex-abuse inquiry to seek charge against stonewalling witness

Sept. 17, 2007

Former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop, a key witness who blew the whistle on an apparent coverup of abuse allegations, appears at the inquiry after being summoned by a subpoena, but refuses to testify. Dunlop says he has no faith in the Ontario justice system and believes the coverup continues.

CBC STORY: Key witness at Cornwall inquiry could be charged with contempt

Feb. 20, 2007

Commissioner Normand Glaude tells lawyers how far they should go when questioning inquiry witnesses who say they were sexually abused after one witness storms off the stand and complains about how lawyers treated him.

CBC STORY: Witnesses complain about grilling at Cornwall inquiry

Jan. 16, 2007

Judge Robert Sharpe of the Ontario Court of Appeal rules the identity of a 61-year-old priest accused of sexual abuse should remain public despite a petition by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall for a ban on his identity. The decision upholds previous rulings by Commissioner Normand Glaude and a divisional court judge.

CBC STORY: Priest loses appeal for identity ban at Cornwall inquiry

Nov. 27, 2006

Peter Engelmann, lead counsel for the inquiry, estimates the inquiry will not conclude on June 30, 2007, as it was supposed to, but will continue for some time. He blames delays caused by a high number of lawyers' motions.

CBC STORY: Publication ban requests delay Cornwall public inquiry

Nov. 17, 2006

Commissioner Normand Glaude rejects Rev. Charles MacDonald's application for a publication ban on his identity.

CBC STORY: Accused priest's identity to remain public at Cornwall inquiry

Nov. 10, 2006

A lawyer for Rev. Charles MacDonald seeks a publication ban on the priest's identity at the inquiry, a week before men who allege MacDonald abused them when they were boys are scheduled to testify.

CBC STORY: Accused priest seeks publication ban at Cornwall public inquiry

Nov. 8, 2006

Members of the media defend a submission requesting that publication bans not be imposed on the identities of victims and alleged victims who have already been identified in public, who have told the media or commissioner that they agree to be identified, or who are deceased. They argue publication bans and the withholding of information from the media mean the inquiry is not "truly public."

CBC STORY: Cornwall sex-abuse inquiry not 'truly public': journalist

Oct. 4, 2006

The inquiry hears its first testimony from a man who says he was abused as a child, 35-year-old Larry Seguin.

CBC STORY: First child sex abuse claims heard at Cornwall inquiry

Aug. 15, 2006

A panel of three judges at the Ontario Divisional Court rejects an application by Father Charles MacDonald to exclude alleged sex abuse victims' testimony at the inquiry.

CBC STORY: Judges uphold decision to hear abuse allegations at Cornwall inquiry

May 1, 2006

Commissioner Normand Glaude strikes down a motion from the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese that it be considered a community organization rather than a public institution at the public inquiry. As a public institution, it is subject to the same level of scrutiny as police and the Children's Aid Society. Glaude also strikes down a motion from a former priest asking that victims be banned from naming their alleged abusers.

CBC STORY: Judge strikes down motions to limit inquiry's scope

Feb. 23, 2006

The Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese puts forward a motion that it be considered a community organization instead of a public institution. The inquiry was given greater access to evidence such as internal records for public institutions, and the community organization designation would limit how closely the inquiry could examine the diocese's response to sex-abuse complaints.

CBC STORY: Church's demands could limit sex abuse inquiry's scope

Feb. 14, 2006

The Cornwall public inquiry opens.

CBC STORY: Cornwall sex abuse inquiry set to open

April 18, 2006

Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant appoints Justice Normand Glaude to lead the inquiry.

CBC STORY: Judge to probe Cornwall abuse allegations.

April 14, 2006

The Government of Ontario formally establishes the Cornwall public inquiry under the Public Inquiries Act.

Nov. 17, 2004

The Crown agrees not to appeal Leduc's case, clearing the way for a public inquiry that had been promised by the Ontario government.

CBC STORY: Inquiry to begin soon into Cornwall sex abuse probe

Nov. 14 2004

During question period in the Ontario legislature, Premier Dalton McGuinty reaffirms his promise to hold a full public inquiry into the sex-abuse scandal in Cornwall.

CBC STORY: Premier renews pledge for Cornwall inquiry

Oct. 18, 2004

The last of a series of cases involving alleged sexual abuse and a coverup of the abuse ends with a judge staying eight charges against Jacques Leduc, former lawyer for Cornwall's Roman Catholic diocese. The judge ruled there had been unreasonable delays in the case.

CBC STORY: Judge throws out Cornwall sex case