Published: Friday, October 17, 2008

Perry Dunlop's life has changed forever.

The ex-Cornwall, Ontario cop turned Cowichan Valley contractor has become a public figure and is ready to sacrifice some of his privacy for a cause: helping victims of paedophiles.

As a police officer in Ontario, he blew the whistle on what he discovered, exposing an alleged ring of child abusers to public scrutiny. As his accusations pointed fingers at a variety of high-ranking officials in government and the Catholic church in the area, considerable publicity was the result and the family eventually moved west to try for a more normal life.

However, Dunlop was seized at his home in February of this year, and spirited off to Ontario to face a judge.

Following seven months in various Ontario jails for sticking to his guns and refusing to testify at an inquiry called to investigate the claims of child sexual abuse in eastern Ontario, Dunlop is now back home, recharging his batteries and rebuilding his family life.

One chapter in 15 turbulent years may be over, but he's not done yet.

"I'm not broken," he said as he sat beside his wife in their living room. "We're fighters."

He related that he had spent his jail time in maximum security institutions.

"Some of them were hell holes. Fights there are very violent, ending in broken arms and legs, and you don't leave the jail for treatment. It's a machine just made to break you. You have to live by your convictions or you're gone."

Dunlop was told that solitary confinement was the best way to keep him safe but that meant he didn't get to feel grass under his feet for seven months.

Jails are cruel places, and now that he's seen them up close, he wants to talk to young offenders who think they're tough and tell them what it's really like "inside."

However, despite the discouragement of many dark days in a tiny cell, where the lights were never turned off, Dunlop says he was able to hold conversations through the ventilation grates with inmates in neighbouring cells, and interact with guards through the slot in his door, with often heartening results.

Dunlop discovered that his case was known. Even a scary encounter with a gang hit-man in a shower stall had a surprising ending as the man subsequently apologized after hearing why the former cop was in jail.

Another incident also showed that boundaries had moved with Dunlop's incarceration.

Whenever he moved from one jail to another, the Cowichan Valley resident, chained and handcuffed, still would have to carry his belongings himself.

However, at one point, a guard picked them up and said, "I've never done this in 20 years, but I'll carry your bags."

Now, Dunlop and wife, Helen, and the couple's three daughters are trying to find their way back to real life, following his return to their Duncan home last week.

The ordeal has been hard on everyone, they say.

Helen Dunlop says she's having trouble sleeping and their daughters are working through the trauma of having their father ripped out of their home, put in jail and then told his testimony was unnecessary.

Dunlop himself tried to focus on his memories of Cowichan Valley scenery, his love of fishing and the knowledge that he was offering support for victims, but some days in jail were worse than others, as nightmares closed in.

And even now, he's not deluding himself that anything is finished.

"People keep saying, what are you going to do now it's over? We need time to heal, but it's not over. There will be fallout from us talking to you. But, I will not quit," he said, adding that he may eventually even write a book.

"I don't know if it would be 'Paedophiles for Dummies' or what, but it would be there to help the next professional who encounters this kind of thing on the job. It could be a teacher who sees something, or a doctor, or other police officers. They may not know what to do. I didn't know anything. I could help them."

Everywhere he has gone in recent years, Dunlop has realized that he's become a touchstone. Quiet people will stand on the edge of crowds near him, then shyly approach him, telling him that they had suffered childhood abuse and how much they appreciate his efforts.

"People want to hear: I believe you."

"It's a good thing that there is this whole network of people. We know people now from coast to coast. I knew I had a huge, strong team out there behind me," he said.

Cornwall will always be the place they come from, even though the Cowichan Valley is where they now belong, and Dunlop and his wife plan to visit Ontario once all the lawyers he calls "BlackBerry cowboys" have gone home.