Refusing to testify at sex-abuse inquiry gets ex-cop 6 months; possibility of more

05 March 2008

TORONTO — A former police officer "central" to a judicial inquiry examining how the justice system and other institutions responded to allegations of widespread child sex-abuse in eastern Ontario was handed a six-month jail sentence Wednesday for refusing to testify at the probe.

To the added dismay of his supporters assembled in a Toronto courtroom, Perry Dunlop also faces the prospect of further jail time on a related conviction - flagrantly defying a direct court demand that he give evidence at the inquiry in Cornwall, Ont.

Dressed in a black casual shirt and pants, unshaven and looking slightly bewildered, Dunlop turned down one last chance to change his mind before his sentencing.

"Are you now willing to give evidence before the Cornwall Inquiry?" Divisional Court Justice Lee Ferrier asked him.

"No, I'm not," Dunlop, 46, responded.

Ferrier described the father of three, who has been in custody since his arrest more than two weeks ago, as a "whistle blower" with knowledge and information that was "central" to the establishment of the inquiry, which has cost $23 million to date, under Justice Normand Glaude.

Compounding the rare act of defiance to heed the order to testify was Dunlop's willingness to speak to the media, and his decision to "orchestrate" his arrest at home in Duncan, B.C., to ensure maximum publicity, the judge said.

It was, Ferrier said, done "flagrantly and publicly" and flew in the face of the contractor's express desire to prevent the sexual abuse of children.

The finding of civil contempt could be "purged" by giving evidence at the inquiry, the court said. He could then apply for immediate release.

Separate sentencing - on a criminal contempt conviction registered Wednesday - will be imposed after he has served his term for civil contempt. Crown lawyers suggested they would likely ask for several months.

However, Dunlop can mitigate the punishment for his criminal conviction by purging the civil contempt, Ferrier said.

Dunlop's wife Helen, who has denounced the inquiry as a "sham," stood during the proceedings and then stormed off without commenting after her husband was led away in handcuffs to begin his sentence in a segregation cell.

Other supporters, one of whom was ejected from the courtroom for being disruptive, harangued Crown lawyers following the hearing.

"It's a travesty," said Anne Winter, a psychotherapist in Toronto who deals with adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

"The worst part is that they've gone after Perry; they haven't gone after the pedophiles out there."

Dunlop was a cop in Cornwall in 1993 when he began probing, on his own time, an alleged pedophile ring that supposedly involved senior civic officials, clergymen, police officers and others.

A provincial police investigation laid 114 charges against 15 men - among them a doctor, a lawyer and three priests - but only one man, a bus driver, was convicted. Charges against one of the priests were dropped after a judge found he was denied the right to a timely trial and verdict.

Despite Dunlop's vehement assertions, police said they found no evidence of a organized ring.

In an interview in January, Dunlop told The Canadian Press that he didn't trust the justice system.

"I'm saying our judicial system is broken and they haven't listened to me for 15 years," Dunlop said. "I have no faith. Absolutely no faith, none."

On Wednesday, Crown lawyer Brian Gover said everyone was mindful that Dunlop and his supporters view him as a victim of a conspiracy of silence.

"No one wants to make a martyr out of Mr. Dunlop in his misguided efforts to avoid his civic duty of testifying and his disobedience of his court order," Gover said.

"It's very difficult to understand the position taken by Mr. Dunlop and his supporters."