MacDonald can finally tell story

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

Terri Saunders

Monday, December 11, 2006 - 10:00

Local News - John MacDonald will get to do something next week he's not been able to do in close to a decade - tell his story for everyone to hear.

The former Cornwall resident, who is now in his mid-40s, will take the stand at the Cornwall Public Inquiry sometime this week to talk about the sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a city priest in the early 1970s.

Rev. Charles MacDonald was charged by the Ontario Provincial Police's Project Truth in 1998 with several sex-related crimes involving a number of complainants, including John MacDonald. The charges against the priest, who has consistently maintained his innocence, were stayed in May 2002 after a judge determined it had taken too long to bring the charges to trial.

Although John MacDonald and other alleged victims gave evidence during a preliminary hearing in the spring of 1999, those proceedings were protected by a publication ban.

On Nov. 17, lawyers for Charles MacDonald lost their bid to have the priest's identity protected by a publication ban at the inquiry.

They have also been unsuccessful in having a gag order placed on alleged victims such as John MacDonald.

When he takes the stand, John MacDonald will be allowed to talk about allegations he made against the priest, including some details of where and when the alleged abuse happened.

Over the course of four years between 1997 and 2001, Project Truth investigators laid 114 historical sex-related charges against 15 area men, including Charles MacDonald.

John MacDonald was one of the first complainants in a Project Truth case to have a publication ban placed on his identity lifted by a judge.

In the years since the investigation first began, he has spoken out publicly about sexual abuse allegations, investigation and the justice system.

In the fall of 1999, he suggested investigators take a second look at sex-related charges prosecuted by Malcolm MacDonald, a former Crown attorney who was charged by Project Truth investigators but who later died before his matter went to trial.

In the spring of 2002, John MacDonald handed out letters to parishioners within the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese seeking support for his demand the church provide a breakdown of the costs associated with defending criminal charges against priests.

The inquiry will resume today at 2 p.m.