The Ottawa Sun 

18 September 2007 

By CP

CORNWALL -- A former city policeman whose investigations sparked a widespread probe of alleged sexual abuse in the region wouldn't answer questions at the Cornwall Public Inquiry yesterday and said he's willing to go to jail rather than participating in a process in which he says he has no faith.

Perry Dunlop and his wife, Helen, both spent time on the witness stand, although neither of them directly answered questions related to what's believed to be the central role they played in uncovering decades of child sexual abuse. The couple entered the hearings room to the sound of applause and cheers from dozens of supporters who turned out to observe the proceedings.

REFUSED TO ANSWER

But commission counsel didn't get a chance to ask any questions of the couple as they immediately made it known they would not participate in the process. Perry Dunlop read from a prepared statement in which he suggested he has become the scapegoat in what he termed a "cover-up" and said he never had any intention of testifying before the commission.

"I have no faith in the Ontario criminal justice system or in the mandate of this inquiry," he said.

Helen Dunlop said she and her husband were only summoned before the commission to allow some parties to further their own agenda of a continued cover-up of child sexual abuse.

"You wanted to meet with us in order to twist the facts," she said. "Who knows what goes on in the back rooms and on the golf courses. We are not going to be a party to this cover-up anymore." Commissioner Normand Glaude asked the couple to reconsider their position and return this morning.

The inquiry resumes today.