Part of Dunlop story unfolds

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

10 May 2008

Posted By Trevor Pritchard

Lawyers at the Cornwall Public Inquiry will try to bring the past two-and-a-half decades in the life of former cop Perry Dunlop into clearer focus next week.

Commission counsel will be introducing an overview of documentary evidence (ODE) for Dunlop, who is currently serving a jail sentence for refusing to testify at the inquiry.

"This is not the best way to have the evidence of Perry Dunlop," said Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.

Dunlop, who conducted a number of personal investigations in the 1990s into allegations that a pedophile ring was flourishing unchecked in Cornwall, has said he's lost all faith in the inquiry.

He was sentenced to six months behind bars on contempt charges in March.

Engelmann said the ODE, which stretches back to 1983, doesn't mean commission counsel had given up all hope of Dunlop appearing.

It would be "extremely helpful," he said, to have Dunlop elaborate in person on some of the facts in the 50-page document.

"Obviously, we want to leave room for that to happen should he decide to purge his contempt," said Engelmann. ODEs have previously been entered for a number of other key figures who have died or are too ill to testify.

The Dunlop ODE is one of a few interesting developments that could play out in the coming week:

Another former Cornwall police officer, Ron Lefebvre, has been added once more to the list of scheduled witnesses.

His evidence had been thrown into doubt after Insp. Rick Trew, who now works with Lefebvre at the city's courthouse, suggested on the stand his colleague might not be able to testify.

It remains unclear what reasons Lefebvre might have for not taking the stand.

"He's on the list because we need to call him," said Engelmann. "Unless we hear otherwise, we're going to be calling him."

Lefebvre led investigations into convicted abusers Earl Landry Jr. and Rev. Gilles Deslauriers.

He was also one of the senior officers in the Cornwall Police Service's youth bureau when David Silmser came forward with historical abuse allegations against a Roman Catholic priest and a probation officer.

Staff Sgt. Garry Derochie will return to the stand to clarify evidence he gave about police discipline files, said Engelmann. Derochie spent 10 days testifying in February, March and April.

His re-examination would be "very brief," Engelmann promised.

Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday at 1 p.m.

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Comments on this Article.

This should be a very interesting week...

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