Inquiry could lose 'moral authority' if Perry charged: prof

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

20 September 2007

Posted By Trevor Pritchard; Terri Saunders

Charging Perry Dunlop with contempt of court for not testifying at the Cornwall Public Inquiry would represent the "antithesis" of what the inquiry has set out to achieve, says a University of Ottawa law professor.

"What you hope for the inquiry is that we learn lessons," said Dr. Constance Backhouse, who has served as an expert witness in a number of sexual abuse cases involving women and children.

"One of the lessons that should be on the list is how we protect individuals like this officer, who came forward to try to fix things."

It was in 1993 when Dunlop, a former city cop, stumbled upon police files detailing allegations of abuse levelled against a city priest. The file suggested the alleged victim had received $32,000 from the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese and the investigation had been terminated.

Many credit Dunlop with sparking the investigation into sexual abuse allegations in the Cornwall area. Dunlop, however, has refused to testify at the inquiry over the past three days, and on Monday he told lead commission counsel Peter Englemann he was willing to go to jail to avoid answering questions.

His wife Helen has since taken the stand.

Lawyers for the commission would likely have to make their case to an Ontario Divisional Court judge if they wanted to charge Dunlop with contempt, said Backhouse.

incorrect route

But the inquiry would lose its "moral authority" as a vehicle for healing the community if lawyers took that route, she added.

"Surely saner heads will prevail - if not at the inquiry, then certainly in the divisional court," said Backhouse.

The lawyer who has been representing dozens of victims and alleged victims at the inquiry said Wednesday he has instructions from his clients not to push the issue of Dunlop testifying.

"They've said, 'If Perry doesn't want to talk, he shouldn't be forced to talk,'" said Dallas Lee, attorney for The Victims Group.

"My clients understand, as victims themselves, what it's like to go through something like this, and they have nothing but sympathy for Perry and for Helen."

Still, hearing Dunlop deliver his evidence in person is vital for the commission, said Paul Scott, the spokesperson for Citizens for Community Renewal, another group with standing at the inquiry.

Scott remained hopeful Dunlop might change his mind and agree to testify.

"There are documents we could look at if we wanted to examine his role in all this," said Scott. "But it's important to get the flavour of that evidence and to hear the human side of the words on the pieces of paper."

Although it was possible, Backhouse said she could not recall a Canadian case where a person was charged with contempt for refusing to testify at a public inquiry.

Helen gets emotional while recounting details of OPP visit

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

20 September 2007

Terri Saunders

Helen Dunlop spent several hours standing in the witness box at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Wednesday, maintaining a steady composure punctuated by some tears and a few moments of emotional testimony.

Dunlop, who has told the commission she suffers from a back injury and finds it easier to remain on her feet rather than sit while testifying, wrapped up what amounted to two days of evidence about the journey she and her husband embarked upon 14 years ago.

In the nearly decade and a half since her husband, former Cornwall Police Service constable Perry Dunlop, first told her about allegations of child sexual abuse involving a city priest, the mother of three said she has dealt with a lot: death threats against her husband and her children, emotional health issues on the part of her entire family, multiple court cases and what she suggested was Perry's ostracization from a police force to which he had been utterly devoted.

Helen said she remembers how her husband tried to return to work in 1997 after having taken a sick leave, but she said he was far from welcomed back with open arms by his former colleagues.

"It wasn't the same," Helen said.

"Did he have much contact with people at the station?" asked Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.

"No," said Helen. "He was put into a room with no phone and no window; correct me if I'm wrong."

Helen said Perry spent five months working on the document which served as an outline of every action he had taken over the course of several years in relation to his contact with police officers, public agencies and victims of sexual abuse.

Helen said one of the hardest decisions she and Perry ever made was to leave Cornwall and move to British Columbia in the summer of 2000.

"We wanted to go some place where nobody knew us," said Helen, "to get away from the stress and to raise the kids."

Helen said Perry was unsure about the move, so he went out to B.C. for a week to have a look around. When he came back, the couple decided to put their house on the market.

"The day the house sold, my father-in-law died and we told the kids," said Helen, tears streaming down her face. "I knew I probably wouldn't see my parents again. My daughters didn't understand. They thought we were going on a vacation. It was tough."

Helen said she, Perry and their daughters settled into their new home and were in the process of putting some of the difficulties of the previous years behind them when there was a knock on their door early one morning.

Helen said she went to the door to find two Ontario Provincial Officers, Det. Const. Joe Dupuis and Det. Const. Don Genier, standing there. She said it was 7:10 a.m. and she was just getting her children ready for school.

"It just blew me out of the water," said Helen. "I said, 'What are doing here? Why are you here?''

The two officers had travelled from Cornwall to serve Perry with an order to turn over all documents he had relating to any victims or alleged victims of child sexual abuse. Helen said one of her daughters was so upset by the unexpected visitors she fled the house.

"She (went) across the field; she ran away," said Helen, becoming very emotional. "She said it was because I had promised this would stop."

Helen said regardless of why the two officers claimed to be on her doorstep, she has her own theories about why the visit occurred as it did.

"They flew out there for a week to intimidate us, to harass us and to wreak havoc in our lives," she said. "Our lawyer wrote a letter to the OPP and asked, 'What is to be gained by this?' They wrote back, one line: it won't happen again. Well, that just doesn't cut it."

While Helen was on the stand, Perry either stood or sat silently directly in his wife's line of sight in the hearings room. The former cop has repeatedly told the commission he has nothing further to say and has refused to testify.

The inquiry will continue today at 9:30 a.m. when Helen is expected to provide the commissioner with recommendations related to public institutional response.

Following her recommendations, it's expected she will be cross-examined by lawyers for several parties in the room, including the Cornwall Community Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese.