Fantino Says Cornwall's Case None Of His Business

November 01, 2007 — The Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner says he was not going to get involved and it was none of his business. Former London Police Chief Julian Fantino testified at the Cornwall Public Inquiry about a box of documents he received over ten years ago. In December 1996, former city police officer Perry Dunlop's lawyer sent Fantino a number of statements relating to child sex abuse allegations in Cornwall. Fantino received the package while he was running a large-scale probe into an alleged pornography ring in London. He says from a jurisdictional point of view this case was none of his business. Fantino says he turned the material over to the OPP. Project Truth was launched the same year.

OPP commish steered clear of Dunlop

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

02 November 2007

Posted By Terri Saunders

The province's top cop Thursday said allegations of child sexual abuse in Cornwall were "none of (his) business" and he was in no position to conduct an investigation of his own.

"I did what I thought was the right thing," OPP Comm. Julian Fantino told the media outside the Cornwall Public Inquiry.

"You will have to live with that as I do."

Fantino said a large amount of material delivered to him in late 1996 when he was chief of the London, Ont. police force contained statements and affidavits from alleged victims of child sexual abuse and he quickly turned it over to the Ontario Provincial Police.

The material was sent to him by Charles Bourgeois, a Newmarket, Ont. lawyer who was representing former city cop Perry Dunlop at the time.

During court appearances over the past several years, Dunlop has said he wanted Fantino to have the material because he was "the only honest cop" in Ontario. In 1993, Fantino headed up a lengthy investigation in his own community called Project Guardian.

Officers told the community a ring of pedophiles was operating in London and dozens of area men were arrested and charged.

Police had a pile of videotapes containing homemade child pornography which had washed up on the banks of a southwestern Ontario river.

Many individuals were later found guilty of paying underage boys for sex; two were found guilty of possessing child pornography.

When all was said and done, courts could find no evidence the large group of accused men worked together as a group, although Fantino maintained his position they were acting collectively.

While testifying during a stay motion on charges city lawyer Jacques Leduc had sexually assaulted three young boys, Dunlop said he had little faith in local authorities to properly investigate sexual abuse allegations made by dozens of alleged victims.

"I wanted to give them (victims) a vehicle to get justice," said Dunlop.

"That's why I went to Fantino."

On Thursday, Fantino said he felt "used" by Bourgeois and Dunlop because he later found out the same material was sent to other agencies such as the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Ministry of the Solicitor General.

Fantino said he "perused" the large volume of documents - an itemized list of what was in the package indicates at least 74 unique items were sent to London, including video and audio tapes - but didn't read them closely.

During a phone call in late 1996, before the package arrived at his office, Fantino had a telephone conversation with Bourgeois during which he says he made it clear to the attorney the materials should not be sent to him but rather to a local investigating police force. "I was disappointed (Bourgeois) would not illicit a modicum of common sense and bring them to the proper authorities," said Fantino.

"I felt a whole lot of discourtesy in having been sent that material."

Fantino also said he wasn't being paid by the citizens of London to investigate crimes which had allegedly occurred in Cornwall and that the matter was outside his jurisdiction.

"I was not in a position to infuse myself into an investigation already under way," Fantino told the inquiry. "I just felt then, and still do today, that it would have been totally inappropriate for me to involve myself in that case.

"All I knew was that with me was not the right place for this material to be."