The Citizen (Cowichan Valley Citizen)

Friday, July 04, 2008

Lexi Bainas

The door to an appeal of his sentence had

slammed shut, leaving Duncan's Perry

Dunlop serving more than his full sentence in an Ontario jail.

Ready to plead his "inmate appeal" in the Court of Appeal in Kingston June 17, he discovered half an hour before his appearance that his name had been withdrawn from the list, according to wife, Helen, who had traveled east to support him in court.

Helen Dunlop had taken the couple's middle daughter, Heather, with her to Ontario and discovered that he had been moved from his Ottawa cell to Quinte Jail in Napanee, in preparation for his court date.

They were able to visit him for a short time on Father's Day, but that was painful for the trio, as they could only touch hands through the glass, she said.

Dunlop, when a police officer in Cornwall, Ontario, made explosive allegations of a pedophile ring in the area near Ottawa. While 15 years of investigations have convicted one person, many victims have come forward.

A commission of inquiry is going forward but Dunlop says his trust in the court system has been eroded and he no longer wishes to be part of this investigation into the way the situation was handled. He is now serving six months in jail for civil contempt of court for his firm refusal to testify.

Up next for Helen Dunlop on her latest Ontario visit was the challenge of finding when her husband was to appear in Kingston's Frontenac Court House. She found out that inmate appeals are handled more casually: the appellants all appear at the same time and their names are called out as they come up in turn, she was told.

"Perry had been waiting for his appeal for weeks," she said. The couple had retained a high-profile lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, but on calling, she discovered that not only did that office not know when Dunlop's appeal was scheduled, they didn't even know he had been moved to get ready for it.

"He got pulled out of his cell on a Friday night, after 8:30 p.m. They don't generally transfer them that late. Even the other prisoners were asking: 'Dunlop, where are you going'?"

At 10 a.m. June 17, Helen Dunlop called and was assured her husband would appear in Kingston, but by 2:30 p.m. Dunlop had called her.

"He was very upset. The appeal had been cancelled. They didn't give him a new date and there was no reason given for the cancellation," she said.

Asked what chance he has for a new appeal, she pointed out that it's unlikely because he only has 60 days left on his sentence and it takes time to arrange an appeal date.

"What would be the point? Perry has no rights in this," she said, pointing out police had removed her husband from his home on only a photocopy of a warrant, had ignored a local judge's call to see the real thing, had spirited him out the side of the station early in the morning and had handed him to two plainclothes police officers from Ontario, who then managed to get him onto an eastbound flight without any identification.

It all seems bizarre, given the promises the Dunlops received earlier.

"We were given three registered letters by the Commission saying he wouldn't be compelled to testify, that no one would be brought to the commission under duress," she said.

The real concern facing the couple, their children and their supporters both here and in Ontario is that he will be sentenced again, this time on a charge of criminal contempt, and be forced to serve even more jail time.

Meanwhile, the Dunlops are unhappy with the lack of response from their lawyer, who had told them he liked high profile cases and taking on the establishment. He won't return phone calls or emails, she said, and she would take on the defender role herself, if allowed.

"They won't let me; you have to be a member of their club," she said, urging supporters to contact Greenspon direct at 613-288-2890 and ask what he's doing to free the Cowichan Valley man.

She also said she saw it as strange that abortionist Henry Morgentaler would be given an Order of Canada award while her husband, who only tried to help the victims of pedophiles, is languishing in jail.

"Who's the hero anyway? The victims tell me as long as Perry is in jail, they are in jail, too," she said.

Helen Dunlop said it was sad to see that the media in Ontario appears to be ignoring the story, after following it for 15 years.

However, Cowichan Valley concern is still so strong that plans are under way to organize a "Where's Perry?" walk later this summer.

Helen Dunlop says she's also ready to stage a personal protest.

"When I go back, and I intend to, I will do a one-woman march to demand fairness and justice for my husband. I will do it alone, if I have to."

© Cowichan Valley Citizen 2008