"Charlie"

Scroll down for media coverage of early days of the scandal

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"Charlie"

“Charlie” is Father Charles MacDonald, the alleged paedophile at the heart of the allegations of a paedophile ring and cover-up.  Father MacDonald is known to some as “Father Charlie” and to many others as “Charlie.”

What is now known as the scandal in Cornwall erupted into the public domain shortly after former Constable Perry Dunlop accidentally discovered that the ten-month-old sex abuse allegations against MacDonald had been handled and posted on the police computer network in a highly unusual fashion and the investigation had just been terminated because the victim had received a monetary settlement with the diocese.

Prompted by his belief that the allegations seemed very credible and his concern for the well-being and safety of children in his Church and community, Dunlop fulfilled his legal obligation and turned a copy of the victim’s statement over to the Children’s Aid Society.

The following media reports give a bird’s eye view of what happened when the first inklings of cover-up began to leak into the public domain - nine long years before "Charlie" walked from the courthouse a free man after he successfully wrapped himself in the Charter and claimed his right to a speedy trial had been violated .

(Further relevant information can be found in the Backgrounder, an appendix  to a complaint filed with the Canadian Judicial Council.)

Articles of Interest 

02 May 2002: Project Truth Crown Attorney, defence and judge join forces against Dunlop 

07 May 2002: Cop delayed trial far too long: Defence  (Charlie's lawyer Michael Neville stoops to name calling)  

08 May 2002: Judge Dan Chilcott describes charges against Father Charles MacDonald as "ordinary, run of the mill everyday sex charge."

"Father Charlie"

at the Cornwall Public Inquiry

  12 June 2008: Priest admitted to gay 'incident,' not sex assault: Ex-chief disputes interpretation of his notes at Cornwall inquiry

23 May 2008: INQUIRY: Officer defends decision not to lay charges

09 April 2008: Cornwall cop defends his honour 

 30 May 2007: Abuse inquiry hears letter of apology: Problem for Project Truth probe was determining who wrote it

 30 May 2007: Priest's Lawyer Says Letter Suggests Misunderstanding, andApology letter aired at inquiry; Witness alleges it came from Rev. Charles MacDonald

 29 May 2007: Man claims he was abused by priest while the two were in same bed

29 May 2007:  Did Father MacDonald ask C-4 for forgiveness? (two media reports on testimony) 

29 May 2007: Witness Emotional In Final Minutes-Inquiry

30 January '07: MacDonald And Loftus Passed Each Other 

19 December '06: Inquiry Pub Ban Lifted  

15 December '06: Credibility issues stifled charges: document 

14 December '06: Another battle lost for priest 

14 December '06: Man dissolves in tears as memories return

13 December '06: Possibly Another Judicial Review At Inquiry

18 November '06: Priest loses bid to keep name private

17 November '06: Justice Glaude's dismissal of the motion

17 November '06: Accused priest's identity to remain public at Cornwall inquiry

17 November '06: No Ban On Priest's Name

16 November '06: Father Charles MacDonald seeks publication ban on his name

16 November '06: Accused priest has been a victim of the media: lawyer

16 November '06: Father Charlie 'demonized' by allegations of abuse 

16 November '06: Lawyers react negatively to MacDonald characterization

16 November '06: Lawyers seeking ban on details

15 November '06: What Names to Ban at the Inquiry

10 November "06: Accused priest seeks publication ban at Cornwall public inquiry

09 November '06: Lawyer will be seeking gag order 

Alleged Victim May Sue Cornwall Police 

January 7, 1994  23.38 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

Cornwall police may have violated a man's privacy rights by releasing a statement he made to them about being sexually abused when he was a child.

The man says he might sue the police force for violating municipal freedom of information laws.

Details of the statement were publicized this week through an Ottawa television station and newspaper.

"Now nobody will come forward in Cornwall for sexual abuse," the 35-year-old man said. "It's morally wrong. Everything's wrong."

The man's statement, given to Cornwall police in December 1992, alleges that he was molested in Cornwall by a Roman Catholic priest and probation officer.

No criminal charges were ever laid against the priest or the probation officer because the complainant withdrew his accusations last year. 

 Police Sgt. Brendan Wells, a Cornwall police spokesman, said: "I'm satisfied no member of the Cornwall police service gave any statement to any news media."

Cornwall police are investigating the matter. 

Police can only disclose such statements after a charge is laid, and only to an accused person's lawyer. And that lawyer can't release it to a third party.

But the man who complained to police fears losing more than his privacy. He could also lose the out-of-court cash settlement he made with the Roman Catholic Church Archdiocese in Cornwall last fall. The church paid the man about $30,000, the man says, with the promise he not discuss the accusations publicly.

Rev. Donald McDougald, who acted as the liaison between the complainant and the accused priest, said the Catholic church may offer cash settlements to spare a priest's reputation. "Whether there is any blame on the (accused) or not, after a court case, a person's reputation is shot."

Cornwall lawyer Malcolm Macdonald, who drew up the settlement on behalf of the church, admitted recent media exposure of the case could scuttle the settlement.

Wells said Cornwall police are not considering reopening the investigation into the priest and the probation officer.

End of document.

Ottawa City Police Called in to Investigate 

January 12, 1994  08.48 EST 

OTTAWA (CP)
 

City police have been asked to investigate a Cornwall police case that concluded without charges after a Roman Catholic archdiocese gave a sex-abuse complainant about $30,000.
 
A man, now 35, complained to police in Cornwall, Ont., in December 1992 that he had been sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest about 20 years ago when he was an altar boy.

But in September 1993, the man told the Cornwall force to drop the investigation because he had reached a civil settlement with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cornwall-Alexandria.

Peter Griffith, chief Crown attorney for Eastern Ontario, said that if a complainant makes a civil settlement, it does not preclude police from pursuing criminal charges.

"It isn't against the law (to reach an out-of-court settlement)," Griffith said.

 But a local Crown attorney instructed the force last September to end their work on the case, Leo Courville, head of the Cornwall Police Services Board, said Tuesday.

 "The investigators were advised that in the absence of the complainant's active involvement in the case, the investigation should terminate," Courville said.
 
Guy Levac, a spokesman for the Ottawa diocese, said the Catholic church would "never, ever prevent someone from talking publicly about a complaint or stop them from going to police."

 The Cornwall-Alexandria diocese has reassigned the accused priest.

 Further details of the case were released Tuesday at a news conference announcing Cornwall police have asked Ottawa counterparts to review their conduct during the investigation.

The Ottawa force will also probe what appears to be a 10-month delay by the Cornwall force in informing the Children's Aid Society in September 1993 of the man's sex-abuse allegations.

"Ten months is a long time," said Ottawa Deputy police Chief Don Lyon. "It is something that investigators will look at."
 
A Cornwall police officer -- who was not assigned to the case -- gave the child-welfare agency the police documents.

For forwarding the documents without authorization, the unnamed officer faced an internal disciplinary investigation.

Under provincial law, police are required to immediately report suspected child abuse to the Children's Aid Society. But because the man reported his allegations as an adult the legal obligations of police are not as clear.

End of document.

January 14, 1994  00.54 EST   

National general news 

Molest-Settlement

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)
A former police chief says he's furious with the local Roman Catholic church for paying a man to keep silent about allegations he was molested by a Cornwall priest as a child.

Police had to call off their 10-month investigation of the local clergyman when the complainant signed a $32,000 settlement with the diocese in 1992 requiring him to halt any legal action against the priest.  

"I was extremely upset, as a police officer, extremely upset," said former chief Claude Shaver. "I understand there are legal precedents but all of a sudden the police have their hands tied because of that."

The man, now 35, took his complaint to Cornwall police in December 1992. At the same time, he says he told the local diocese his story and asked for a written apology. Church officials offered him a cash settlement months later. He withdrew his complaint last September.
 
Bishop Eugene LaRocque of the Cornwall diocese has scheduled a news conference today at his office to discuss the settlement.
 
Shaver says he was so incensed by the church's deal that he and the head of the force's criminal investigations travelled to Ottawa last October to speak with Archbishop Carlo Curis, the Pope's representative in Canada.

"I disagreed with the payment by the church, which then caused the complainant to withdraw the complaint which left us with nothing."
 
It was after Shaver's meeting with LaRocque that the accused priest was removed from his church. 

End of document.

January 16, 1994  15.12 EST

National general news 

Molest-Settlement 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

The man who received a $32,000 payout from the Roman Catholic Church after complaining he was molested by a Cornwall priest says the church never offered to help him in any way.

The Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall said Friday it offered to help the former altar boy and pay for counselling, as part of the Catholic church's national protocol on handling such complaints.

But Saturday the 35-year-old man disputed that. "They never once helped me out on anything. They never said 'Do you need some help? Do you need some money for help?' All I wanted was an apology."

He disagrees with several key elements in the church's account of the controversial payoff. He has consulted his lawyer and is weighing the risks of public disclosure of the out-of-court settlement. He has refused repeated requests to release the documents.

The man said he never demanded money from the church and that church officials offered it after his first meeting with them.

By then, he said, he realized he would not get an apology and it seemed the Cornwall police probe was going nowhere. So he decided to take the money.

Cornwall Bishop Eugene LaRocque said Friday he reluctantly went along with the payment because the man had a considerable bill for psychological counselling. But Saturday, the man denied ever receiving any counselling.

And Jacques Leduc, the lawyer for the diocese, said there was no gag order preventing the man from pursuing a criminal investigation. 

The man contradicted Leduc's comments about the gag order, saying: "It's in black and white. I can't go on the witness stand and talk about it."

The man said that, as part of the settlement, the diocese required him to tell Cornwall police in writing that he would abandon his criminal complaint. "I don't recall that," Leduc said Saturday. 

Police said they had to call off their 10-month investigation when the complainant signed the $32,000 settlement with the diocese requiring him to halt any legal action against the priest.  

The man took his complaint to Cornwall police in December 1992. 

At the same time, he says he told the local diocese his story and asked for a written apology. Church officials offered him a cash settlement months later. He withdrew his complaint last September.

End of document.  

January 24, 1994  17.27 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

Roman Catholic officials say they didn't know a cash settlement reached with a man who accused a priest of sexual abuse prevented him from pressing criminal charges.

Bishop Eugene LaRocque told a news conference Monday he wasn't aware the settlement included that clause because church officials never read the agreement.

"It brings out the human side of the church. We all make mistakes," LaRocque said, describing the situation as a "tragedy of errors."

LaRocque says a new lawyer for the diocese has contacted the man and told him if he decides to lay charges, it will not violate the terms of the settlement.

Under the agreement, the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall agreed to pay the man $32,000. The agreement also contained a clause preventing the man from pursuing criminal and civil action against the church and the priest.

Police said Monday they had not heard from the man. 

The man, now 35, complained to police in December 1992 that he had been sexually assaulted by the priest about 20 years ago when he was an altar boy.

But in September 1993, the man told police to drop the investigation because he had reached an out-of-court settlement with the archdiocese.

A diocese spokesman later said the church would never prevent someone from talking about a complaint or going to the police.

Jacques Leduc, a lawyer for the diocese, said the document was prepared by the priest's lawyer and not himself. Leduc said he didn't read it before it was signed.

"It was a lack of judgment on my part. I know you may find this difficult to believe. Some would say we're lying, but we're not," Leduc told reporters.

"As you can imagine I feel very foolish this morning and embarrassed."  

February 2, 1994  16.48 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) 

Provincial police plan to re-open an investigation into a complaint of sexual abuse by a priest that was originally halted after the complainant received $32,000 from the Roman Catholic diocese. 

The investigation will also examine whether there was a "conspiracy between police and the church to effect a settlement," Carl Johnston, acting Cornwall police chief, told a news conference Wednesday. 

The Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall agreed to pay a man last fall after he complained to police in 1992 that he was molested by a priest as an altar boy. 

The agreement contained a clause preventing the man from pursuing criminal and civil action against the church and the priest, but diocese officials later said they didn't know the settlement prevented the man from pressing charges. 

Police in Ottawa recommended re-opening the case after conducting a review which found no evidence of a coverup attempt by Cornwall police, Johnston said. 

The report did find a "noticeable lack of senior management direction and support throughout the course of the investigation," which Johnston attributed to a heavy workload at the time.

The investigation is "to get a second opinion on the first investigation and ... to see if any new witnesses can be found," Johnston said. 

The police dropped the earlier investigation because of the difficulty of proceeding without a complainant. 

The investigation will begin this week. 

End of document.

March 9, 1994  11.33 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

A man who claims he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest 20 years ago is suing a former city police chief and two officers for breach of privacy in the case, his lawyer said Tuesday.

The suit also names Cornwall's police services board and the Children's Aid Society of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and claims $250,000 in damages, said lawyer Bryce Geoffrey of Ottawa.

Geoffrey said his 35-year-old client gave a handwritten statement about the priest to police during a criminal investigation.

"My client's statement was released to the media without his knowledge or consent," he said. 

Part of the statement was broadcast on an Ottawa TV station and the signature "was on the screen for everyone to see," he said.

 A Cornwall police spokesman said in January he was confident no one on the force released the statement to reporters. Police can only disclose such statements to an accused person's lawyer.

Former police chief Claude Shaver and the others named in the suit should receive statements of claim by the end of the week, Geoffrey said.

Spokesmen for Cornwall police and the Children's Aid Society said they have not been served any legal papers.

Shaver and Leo Courville, chairman of the police board, were not available for comment.

Geoffrey said his client first complained to police in December 1992 that he had been sexually assaulted by a local priest when he an altar boy, but told police to drop the investigation last

September when he received a payment of $32,000 from the Roman Catholic diocese.

 Meanwhile, provincial police continue to investigate the sexual assault case against the former priest.

 The probe was launched soon after Ottawa police reviewed the handling of the investigation by Cornwall police. Ottawa police concluded there was no evidence of a cover-up attempt by Cornwall police but recommended re-opening the case.

April 29, 1994  01.53 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

 A man who says a Roman Catholic priest molested him as a boy is suing the Children's Aid Society and Cornwall police for releasing his witness statement to the media.

 The statement, which was shown on a TV newscast in Ottawa and partially reprinted in an Ottawa newspaper in January, contains graphic details of the abuse the man told police he suffered 20 years ago.

 According to court documents filed March 7, the man is seeking damages from the police.  

 The suit is the most recent twist in a complicated sexual abuse case that drew accusations of a cover-up against the Cornwall police and sparked allegations of the Roman Catholic Church obstructing justice.

 The alleged victim first went to Cornwall police in December 1992, with claims he had been molested as an altar boy by a local priest and probation officer. The 49-year-old probation officer committed suicide in November.

 Ten months later, the man withdrew his complaint after church officials paid him $32,000 to drop the case.

 Cornwall police, which had dropped their investigation of the priest since the alleged victim chose to quash his accusations, came under fire for allowing the church pay-off. 

Cornwall Bishop Eugene LaRocque has condemned the out-of-court settlement and urged the man to go back to police. 

End of document.

March 15, 1995  15.53 EST  

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

Ontario's police complaints commissioner is appealing a ruling that cleared a constable of wrongdoing in the handling of a sexual abuse investigation of a Roman Catholic priest. 

A provincial board of inquiry has found that Const. Perry Dunlop acted appropriately when he gave a copy of the complainant's police statement to the Children's Aid Society.

Dunlop, who wasn't directly involved with the investigation, was acting against the order of his superior officer.

But the board said he had reasonable grounds to suspect abuse and acted appropriately under the Child and Family Services Act.

The inquiry was ordered by Cornwall's police chief last year, after the alleged victim filed a complaint with the complaints commissioner.

The alleged victim told police in 1992 that he'd been sexually abused by a priest more than 20 years earlier.

The police investigation was dropped 10 months later after the complainant stopped co-operating. It was revealed the complainant received $32,000 from the Roman Catholic diocese in return for dropping legal proceedings.

The commissioner's appeal will be heard by a divisional court, likely in Ottawa.

End of document.

September 24, 1994  15.36 EST

[theinquiry.ca note:  legal counsel for the Cornwall Police Service who recommended that this action be taken against Dunlop was Colin McKinnon.  Six years and four months later Justice Colin McKinnon took the bench at the sex abuse trial of Jacques Leduc.  The trial degenertated into the trial of Perry Dunlop. McKinnon also represented the legal interests of former Chief Claude Shaver on a number of occasions]  

OTTAWA (CP)

A Cornwall police officer is facing professional misconduct charges for going to the Children's Aid Society with suspicions that a local priest and probation officer might be sexually abusing children. 

Const. Perry Dunlop is charged with breach of confidence and discreditable conduct under the Ontario Police Services Act. He could be reprimanded or fired if found guilty.

 Dunlop admits giving a copy of a sexual assault statement to the Cornwall Children's Aid Society but denies leaking it to the media.

His lawyer has moved to have the charge quashed, arguing Dunlop was only fulfilling his legal obligations. 

Under the Ontario Child and Family Services Act all professionals, including police officers, must report suspected child abuse to the Children's Aid Society.

 "Bluntly stated," said lawyer Allan O'Brien, "if Perry Dunlop hadn't reported this, someone could have said that was discreditable conduct." 

 Cornwall police chief Carl Johnston told the Ottawa Citizen he laid the charge after an internal investigation.    "A document from the police force was removed from the police facility and subsequently the document turned up publicly," he said.

Friday's developments are the latest in a scandal that began earlier this year in Cornwall involving a Roman Catholic priest, a probation officer, a suicide and an out-of-court settlement by the church.

Seven months ago, the Ontario Provincial Police reopened the investigation by Cornwall police to see if charges should be laid against the priest.  

 A Crown attorney is reviewing the OPP probe, which followed an earlier investigation by Ottawa police. The Ottawa force concluded senior Cornwall officers did not offer enough support in the case. 

Dunlop says he went to the Cornwall Children's Aid Society because "it appeared that the case was coming to a close without a complete investigation being done," according to an affidavit filed along with the motion to quash the charge.

In December 1992, a 35-year-old man gave Cornwall police a written statement saying he'd been sexually abused by the Cornwall  priest and an area probation officer in the 1970s when he was age 12. He was a former altar boy.

Dunlop got a copy of the man's statement from the investigating officer. He photocopied the statement and gave the original back to his colleague.

The next day, Sept. 25, 1993, he brought it to the attention of Richard Abell, the CAS's executive-director in Cornwall.

 Dunlop was concerned that the probation officer "continued to have isolated contact with children in the Cornwall community." 

 In November 1993, the probation officer committed suicide at his home near Lancaster, east of Cornwall. No criminal charges were ever laid against him.

 Dunlop has been on an extended sick leave from the force since January.

 End of document.

March 15, 1995  15.53 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)  

Ontario's police complaints commissioner is appealing a ruling that cleared a constable of wrongdoing in the handling of a sexual abuse investigation of a Roman Catholic priest.

A provincial board of inquiry has found that Const. Perry Dunlop acted appropriately when he gave a copy of the complainant's police statement to the Children's Aid Society. Dunlop, who wasn't directly involved with the investigation, was acting against the order of his superior officer. But the board said he had reasonable grounds to suspect abuse and acted appropriately under the Child and Family Services Act. 

The inquiry was ordered by Cornwall's police chief last year, after the alleged victim filed a complaint with the complaints commissioner.

The alleged victim told police in 1992 that he'd been sexually abused by a priest more than 20 years earlier. The police investigation was dropped 10 months later after the complainant stopped co-operating. It was revealed the complainant received $32,000 from the Roman Catholic diocese in return for dropping legal proceedings.

The commissioner's appeal will be heard by a divisional court, likely in Ottawa.

End of document. 

April 11, 1995  22.00 EST 

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) 

 A man who was paid $32,000 by the Catholic church after alleging sexual abuse as an altar boy is suing the church.

The man is suing the Catholic diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall and a former parish priest from the Cornwall area.

Cornwall police began an investigation in 1992 after the man claimed he had been assaulted by the priest in the 1970s.  But police dropped the investigation in September 1993 when the alleged victim, now in his 30s, stopped co-operating with police. 

Provincial police reopened the case last January upon learning the diocese had negotiated a deal to give the man a cash settlement.  The provincial force later cleared Cornwall police of wrongdoing after determining there were insufficient grounds to lay charges against the priest.  But provincial police also said "there was evidence of an attempt to obstruct justice in relation to the settlement made with the alleged victim."

The man's lawyer says the settlement was illegal.

End of document.  

June 8, 1995  01.05 EST

OTTAWA (CP) 

A priest is countersuing a former altar boy, claiming he falsely and maliciously accused him of a sexual assault more than 20 years ago.

The former altar boy, now 37, had sued the priest and the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall over the alleged incident.

The man filed the lawsuit after he accepted $32,000 from the diocese agreeing to drop the complaint. 

In a statement of defence and counterclaim filed in an Ottawa court recently, the priest and the diocese deny the man's allegations and have started a civil action of their own. 

They claim the priest has suffered emotional and mental distress, severe depression, and has been robbed of a career. 

The priest has since left the parish and has been unable to assume duties in another parish because of the allegations, the documents say.

They also claim the man's allegations were made "with no other purpose but to obtain financial gain."

In a statement of reply, the man insists that he was abused by the priest and that the priest's countersuit should be dismissed.

The development is the latest in a series of events that began in late 1993 when the Cornwall-area man went public with allegations against the church about incidents that he said happened in the early 1970s, when he was 12.

Provincial police reviewed how the Cornwall Police handled the matter but concluded there were no grounds to lay a criminal charge against the priest.  

End of document.

August 3, 1995  16.12 EST

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)

An Ottawa man who accused a local priest of sexual assault has reached an out-of-court settlement in a civil lawsuit against Cornwall's Police Services Board.

The man, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, sued Cornwall Police after a witness statement he provided them was leaked to an Ottawa TV station.

The man's full name was cleary visible on a news report broadcast by the station. The amount of money he received will remain confidential under the terms of the agreement.

"We reached an out-of-court settlement about a month ago, but that's all I can say," said the man in a telephone interview Wednesday. "The details are confidential."

The man has also launched a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. That suit remains outstanding, as does a civil lawsuit the priest involved has filed against the man, alleging wrongful accusation.  

The man, now in his 30s, went to city police in 1992 claiming the priest had assaulted him more than 20 years ago when he was an altar boy. 

The investigation also involved a local probation officer, who has since committed suicide. The probation officer was also alleged to have sexually assaulted the boy.   

The investigation was closed by police after the former altar boy refused to co-operate further because he had been paid $32,000 in an out-of-court settlement with the diocese.   

A condition of that settlement was that he not pursue his accusations.

End of document.

12 October 1995 

OTTAWA (CP) -- A Cornwall lawyer has received an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to attempting to obstruct justice in a sexual assault case against his client, a Catholic priest.

Angus MacDonald, 64, pleaded guilty to the charge last month in an Ottawa court.

MacDonald was charged after a victim of alleged sex abuse was paid $32,000 in return for dropping a criminal complaint and any plans for civil action. 

The complainant, a Cornwall man, had told police in 1992 he was abused by a priest as a teen in the 1970s, but the investigation was dropped when he later stopped co-operating with police.

The case was re-opened after police learned the Alexandra-Cornwall Roman Catholic diocese had negotiated a deal to pay for the alleged victim's silence. 

The absolute discharge means that MacDonald will not have a criminal record. 

End of document 

[theinquiry.ca note: Angus MacDonald is Malcolm MacDonald]

March 12, 1996  00.18 EST   

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP)   

A Roman Catholic priest faces seven charges of indecent assault stemming from alleged incidents in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Father Charles MacDonald, 63, of Glen Robertson, Ont., about 40 kilometres north of Cornwall, will appear in Ontario Court on March 25. 

Provincial police took over the case from Cornwall police in January 1994 and concluded in December 1994 that there weren't "sufficient grounds" to lay charges. 

But the provincial police case was opened again last year after two former altar boys came forward. 

In a written statement released to the CBC-TV program Fifth Estate last December, MacDonald said the allegations "are fabricated and libellous, fuelled by a media against which one is unable to defend himself. 

"I emphatically state that I am not guilty of these allegations against me."

Bishop Eugene LaRocque, head of the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese, was criticized when it was revealed two years ago the Catholic Church paid a complainant $32,000.

The church and MacDonald have since sued their lawyers over the deal.

End of document.