Ex-Cornwall priest indicted

Wednesday, 17 April 2002 , Ottawa Sun

AN AGING priest who once taught at a Cornwall Catholic school has been indicted on child sex abuse charges in Massachusetts.

In the first case that points to an international link between Catholic church scandals, Father Paul Desilets, 78, was indicted by a grand jury Friday on 27 counts of indecent assault and battery against 18 victims.

Complainants were former altar boys at the Assumption Parish in Bellingham, about 65 km southwest of Boston.

Lawyer Jeffrey Newman, who is representing 20 victims in civil cases, has hired a private investigator to track Desilets' movements over the years as he moved from Cornwall to Massachusetts, then to Quebec.

The independent probe aims to uncover whether Desilets was transferred due to allegations of child molestation.

"We want to speak with police authorities, school authorities, church authorities and parishioners to make general inquiry to see if anybody has had problem experiences or complaints," said Newman from Boston.

Desilets, who returned to Canada in 1984 and now lives in Rigaud, Que. about 100 km east of Ottawa, is listed in the Catholic Directory of Canada as teaching at Cornwall's Classical College in the late 1960s.

Newman believes this case could have "very significant implications" if it establishes the Boston Archdiocese knew of Desilets' behaviour and did not alert Canadian authorities -- or if there were any complaints lodged in Cornwall before Desilets moved to Massachusetts.

"It would be kind of a shock if we were to learn he had problems before he was sent to Massachusetts -- to learn his order was aware of his pedophilic tendencies and didn't warn people," Newman said.

Desilets is the first priest charged in the Boston-area sex abuse church scandal, central in the evolving crisis that prompted the Pope to summon U.S. cardinals to Rome this week.

OTHER COMPLAINTS

Bellingham Police Det. Richard Perry hopes to extend the investigation to determine if there are more victims in Canada.

"I would really like to know about that. I haven't had the opportunity to speak with Canadian authorities yet because of my own case," he said. "I'd be interested in finding out if there were any complaints lodged against him."

The U.S. district attorney's office has initiated extradition proceedings against Desilets.

Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Garry Guzzo, who has long pressed for a public inquiry into the OPP handling of sex abuse complaints in Cornwall, travelled to Massachusetts in February to examine potential links.

Learning of the formal charges against Desilets, Guzzo confirmed the accused is "one of the problems" he was looking into. Also of interest are three others who once worked in Cornwall -- two priests and one social/community worker -- with connections to Maine, Massachusetts and Ohio.

Project Truth, a four-year OPP probe in Cornwall, resulted in 115 charges, but they were laid only after a citizens' group collected evidence. Two separate police investigations had turned up empty.

Perry Dunlop, a former Cornwall constable who helped expose historical sex abuse allegations, doesn't doubt priests were moved around to escape complaints.

"This is worldwide," he said. "If we don't recognize that, we'll never get to the problem. And we've only touched the tip of the iceberg."

CLASSICAL COLLEGE

Cornwall's Classical College opened in 1949, run by the Clerics of St. Viateur who ran another college in Rigaud, Que.

The Catholic college opened as three houses in East Cornwall, offering high school classes and an off-campus college of the University of Ottawa. A new site opened in 1955. In operation for 19 years, the college educated future teachers, lawyers, doctors and priests before it closed in 1968. Officially, it closed due to financial difficulties, but some believe the school shut because of allegations of sexual abuse against students.

Cornwall resident Dick Nadeau, who attended the Classical College in the 1950s, said the school had a reputation for sex abuse and is named by alleged victims in civil suits.

Ex-Cornwall priest indicted