Doug Seguin conducted an investigation of his own

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

28 November 2007

Posted By Elisabeth Johns

It wasn't long after Ken Seguin committed suicide that his brother began questioning those individuals who accused his brother of sexual abuse.

Doug Seguin testified Tuesday at the Cornwall Public Inquiry he conducted his own investigation by meeting with sexual abuse survivors Ron Leroux and Gerry Renshaw and other individuals who had been accused of sexual abuse.

Leroux never claimed Ken Seguin sexually assaulted him, but Renshaw did. Ken Seguin, a former probation officer, killed himself in November 1993.

Ken Seguin has been accused of sexually assaulting young boys, but was never charged with any offence. Renshaw lived at Ken Seguin's house for a period of time.

"There was no investigation that time into Ken," Doug Seguin said. "And see we (Ken Seguin's family) were the ones at the time trying to figure out the validity of these accusations."

Although Leroux never claimed Ken Seguin sexually abused him, his affidavit, which contained allegations that prominent individuals in the community had engaged in sexual rituals at at Ken Seguin's house was published on a website.

There have been suggestions that affidavit fueled the belief there was a cover-up of a pedophile ring comprised of prominent people in the community.

Leroux later admitted in his testimony he lied about those sexual rituals.

"I then said an affidavit and saying things to the media is one thing, but lying in court is another," Doug Seguin said, recalling a conversation between himself and Leroux, prior to the inquiry taking place.

Doug Seguin also met with Nelson Barque, a probation officer who would have been a co-worker of his brother's. Barque was convicted of sexually assaulting Albert Roy and was sentenced to jail for four months. He later committed suicide.

Doug Seguin said he couldn't recall his brother and Barque ever socializing.

"After Ken's death, I did have a conversation with Nelson Barque," Seguin testified. This took place after Barque had been charged, convicted and spent time in jail.

Barque's wife, Doug Seguin recalled, said Barque had made "one small mistake and had paid for it."

Barque, he continued, was told by his lawyer that if agreed to plead guilty, he wouldn't have to go to jail. "They were really quite shocked when the judgment came down he'd have to serve four months," Doug Seguin said. He fired off a letter to then-Premier Mike Harris after Ottawa-area MPP Gary Guzzo stood up in the Queen's Park Legislature in May 2001 and threatened to name names.

In that letter, he cites numerous remarks made by Guzzo. One of those remarks is about the 115 charges that were laid by the OPP against more than a dozen men following the Project Truth investigation.

"Mr. Guzzo repeats this notion of 115 charges not having been made until 1997 by Project Truth. There were no abused children, no reliable statements of abuse, no pedophile ring, no cover-up and no charges," Doug Seguin wrote in September 2001.

Doug Seguin called the allegations of sexual abuse against his brother and against Rev. Charles MacDonald "a very large scam" done just to get money.

In this letter, he claims Dunlop and Dunlop's brother-in-law, Carson Chisholm, recruited victims so they could seek more in monetary compensation.

"Anther quandary for Dunlop and his group had now developed - their scam did not fly," Doug Seguin wrote to the premier. "A third person . . . is contacted and offered the chance of making a lot of money - this person has already acknowledged the offer and that the priest had not abused him."

Under cross-examination, Doug Seguin said he had not spent the better part of 14 years investigating his brother's accusers and the accusations leveled at him.

"Is it fair to say you took it upon yourself after your brother's death to clear his name?" Dallas Lee, the lawyer for The Victims Group questioned Doug Seguin.

"I certainly looked into it to see if the allegations had any merit to them," the man replied.

Doug Seguin's cross-examination continues today.