Jailed Cornwall Cop . . .  

Now Facing More Charges  

The Wanderer

12 May 2008

By PAUL LIKOUDIS CORNWALL, Ont. — Perry Dunlop — the former Cornwall, Ont., constable now serving a six­ month civil contempt charge for refusing to testify at the public in­quiry into “ historical sexual abuse” here — was served notice by Commission Counsel Peter Engelmann that he may face “mis­conduct” charges for investigat­ing the sexual abuse of minor males here in the early 1990s without official permission.

As of May 7, 2008, Dunlop had served 70 days of his six- month sentence. He still faces another sentencing for his criminal con­tempt charges for talking to the media and saying he has no faith in the justice system. This made his contempt “ flagrant.”  

The Canadian Press reported on May 7 that Dunlop received notice “ the inquiry is considering several adverse findings against Perry Dunlop. . . . 

“ Confidential notification of the potential findings are con­tained in what is known as a Sec­tion 5( 2) notice in which the commission provides the heads up to anyone who might be im­pacted negatively by the final re­port. ‘ They’re not findings of mis­conduct,’ said inquiry’s lead coun­sel, Peter Engelmann, who refused further comment. ‘ They’re notic­es of alleged misconduct.’ “ In Dunlop’s case, the commis­sion is looking at a total of eight areas in which it is considering findings of misconduct against him, all related to his off- hours investigation in the 1990s into al­legations of systemic sexual abuse. 

“Among other potential find­ings is one Dunlop ‘ conducted in­vestigations into allegations of criminal conduct without the knowledge, authorization, and/ or involvement’ of the Cornwall po­lice service.

 “ Dunlop’s wife Helen slammed the notice as intimidation from a corrupt justice system that is now refusing him legal aid. ‘ It’s more coercive blackmailing tactics. They’re trying to nail the one guy who’s standing up for everybody’s rights,’ Helen Dunlop said from her home in Duncan, B. C.”

Meanwhile, as the public in­quiry into the “ institutional re­sponse” to “ historical sexual abuse” in Cornwall grinds on — at the cost of at least $ 31 million so far ( some say the figure is clos­er to $ 50 million) — much of the public in Cornwall is beginning to think that the Cornwall Police Services played an active role in the “ coverup” of the alleged pe­dophile clan that operated here for nearly a half- century.

One of the most astonishing revelations in the last few weeks at the inquiry at the “ Weave Shed” was testimony from former police officer Michael Quinn, Dunlop’s closest friend while he was on the force, that he was un­aware that a complaint against Dunlop was filed by David Silm­ser — the man who alleged he had been sexually abused by Fr. Charles MacDonald and proba­tion officer Ken Seguin, and who received a $ 32,000 payoff from the Diocese of Alexandria­Cornwall — which was illegal insofar as it obliged him to tell the Cornwall Police Service he did not wish to pursue charges against Fr. Charlie.

After John Callaghan, lead at­torney for the Cornwall Police Services, asked Quinn if he knew that Silmser had filed a complaint against Dunlop, the public in Cornwall learned via Sylvia MacEachern’s web site that the complaint against Dunlop alleged by Callaghan was actually against a rookie police officer, Heidi Sebalj, who was assigned to investigate Silmser’s allegations. (See www.theinquiry.ca) During the hearings at the Weave Shed, Justice Normand Glaude learned that some of Se­balj’s fellow officers felt that she should not have been assigned to the case because she was inexpe­rienced.

Sebalj was granted a waiver from testifying by Justice Glaude, who agreed with her doctor that it would be too emotionally bur­densome. Similarly, other officers involved in the Silmser matter have been excused from testify­ing, and there is no indication any of the alleged abusers will be called testify at the Weave Shed.

“ What seems to have hap­pened,” Sylvia MacEachern told The Wanderer, “is David Silmser’s lawyer, Bryce Geoffrey, hand- de­livered a letter to the Cornwall Police Service, and others, on Jan­uary 11, 1994, wherein he com­plained specifically about the ac­tions of the Cornwall Police Ser­vice, Constable Heidi Sebalj, and Acting Chief Carl Johnson. 

“ On the same date, the Corn­wall Police Service Association issued a press release which, I would say, shows the first signs of the system pointing a public and accusatory finger at Perry Dunlop. That came on the heals of an in­ternal investigation which essen­tially absolved him of any wrong­doing for giving a ‘ victim’s state­ment’ to the Children’s Aid Soci­ety four months earlier identify­ing Seguin and MacDonald for abusing young males.”

About the same time Dunlop turned the information over to the Children’s Aid Society, in October, Silmser received his illegal “ hush money” payment from the diocese for dropping his charges against MacDonald, after he said he was advised in August by Heidi Sebalj that the Cornwall Police Service would not lay charges against Fr. Charlie.
  ( On September 2, 1993, Silms­er signed the pay- off agreement with the diocese; on September 29, he went to the Cornwall Police sta­tion and told police he no longer wanted to pursue charges against Fr. Charlie; on September 23, Dunlop first learned of the allega­tions against Seguin and Fr. Charlie while on duty at the sta­tion, on September 25, he talked to someone at the Children’s Aid Society about what he had over­heard, and on September 30, he gave a copy of Silmser’s statement to the executive director of the Children’s Aid Society.)

MacEachern told The Wander­er  that a source known to her only as “ RealityChecker,” who is fol­lowing the public inquiry close­ly, contacted her web site and in­formed her that Silmser’s com­plaint was filed against Sebalj, et al., and not against Dunlop.

“ RealityChecker,” she said, has been listening carefully to the hearings, which are broadcast live from the Weave Shed, and going through all the documents and depositions as they are posted on her web site. 

 “ ‘ RealityChecker’ has a great investigative mind,” MacEachern said, “ and is putting things togeth­er faster than Justice Glaude’s commission counsel. Barring my discovery of a document which proves otherwise, this has every indication of the Cornwall Police Service’s vindictive desire to ab­solve itself.” 

During the interrogation of Of­ficer Quinn in April, said MacEachern, “ Quinn stated that by late 1993, Perry was worried that he was being made a scape­goat and that he might lose his job for going to Children’s Aid. Sub­sequently, we have learned from other police officials that Heidi was an excellent officer who did a great job, there was no pedophile ring, there was no coverup, that police failed on numerous instanc­es to investigate claims of sexual abuse when contacted by victims, that routine paper work involving complaints was not filed, that no­body — except Perry — seemed to know there was a legal require­ment to inform the Children’s Aid Society when children are at risk, and there certainly seems to be ev­idence indicating lawyers, judges, and Crown attorneys were direct­ly or indirectly involved in what I say is a ‘ coverup.’ “ What we hear repeatedly as an excuse is that ‘ policies, practices, and procedures’ were constantly evolving, morale was low, police were understaffed, the budget was tight, and it is just excuses, excus­es, excuses,” said MacEachern. 

“ But with Perry, there is nothing gray. Heaven forbid he talked to victims who knocked at his door, because they had nowhere else to turn and because they trusted him. Heaven forbid he identify certain pillars of the community as alleged pedophiles,” she said.

  + + + ( If there are any Wanderer read­ers who would like to pen Perry a letter of support, they can write to him: Perry Dunlop, c/o OCDC, Ot­tawa Carlton Detention Centre, 2244 Innes Road, Ottawa, Ontar­io, Canada, K1B 4C4. He also would especially appreciate prayers and Masses for himself and his wife and daughters as they suf­fer through this ordeal.