Officer Defended At Inquiry

February 14, 2008 — We now have a clearer picture of a Cornwall police officer's investigation that an Ottawa officer called "ineffective". At the Cornwall Public Inquiry yesterday, Cornwall police lawyer, John Callaghan, painted the main investigator in a 1992 sexual abuse allegation as competent. Callaghan suggested Cornwall police officer Heidi Sebalj was honest and forthwright with the Ottawa police. Retired Ottawa police superintendent, Brian Skinner was responsible for looking into how the Cornwall police dealt with a sex abuse complaint in the early 90s. In his report on the Cornwall investigation at the time, Skinner wrote that it was ineffective but that he did see some excellent police work. In earlier testimony, Skinner said Sebalj was a good officer but far "too junior" to be looking into an allegation of this complexity.

Lawyer defends cop's investigation

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

15 February 2008

Posted By Trevor Pritchard

A supposedly botched investigation by city police into a December 1992 sexual abuse allegation wasn't nearly as ineffective as an Ottawa police officer made it out to be, the Cornwall Public Inquiry heard yesterday.

During his cross-examination of retired Supt. Brian Skinner, Cornwall police attorney John Callaghan suggested that lead investigator Heidi Sebalj was a competent officer who worked hard to build a good rapport with the complainant, David Silmser, over the span of the nine-month investigation.

Skinner spent eight days in Cornwall in January 1994 exploring how the force handled Silmser's accusations that he had been sexually abused by city priest Charles MacDonald and probation officer Ken Seguin.

While city police concluded there was not enough evidence to charge MacDonald, he was eventually charged by the OPP in 1996 with a number of sex-related offences during their Project Truth investigation.

Those charges were stayed in 2002. MacDonald has always maintained his innocence.

Seguin was alleged to have abused several young boys in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was never charged and committed suicide in 1993.

One of the major criticisms in Skinner's report, which entered into evidence Wednesday, was that Const. Sebalj was too inexperienced to head up the investigation.

Skinner testified Wednesday that Sebalj had only been with the department responsible for handling sexual assault allegations for two months.

One of the investigation's major missteps, he said, was that Sebalj didn't fully interview a former parishioner of MacDonald's who said the allegations had hit "very close to home."

Yesterday, Callaghan took Skinner through a series of attempts Sebalj made to get a statement from another alleged abuse victim, whose name is under a publication ban.

Sebalj's notes showed that she made multiple phone calls to the man, visited him in person, and only gave up when his lawyer advised him he wouldn't be making a statement to police.

"This is good police digging," suggested Callaghan. "And she did a good job on this."

"I agree," said Skinner.

Callaghan also painted Sebalj as someone who wanted to accommodate Silmser and make him feel comfortable so he would open up about his experiences.

Quoting at length from Silmser's 2007 testimony at the inquiry, Callaghan said Silmser considered Sebalj to be a "super lady" who "showed a lot of concern" about his allegations.

interpretation

"You suppose a fair interpretation is that Heidi did build that bridge (with Silmser)?" asked Callaghan.

"I think at some point, she did," said Skinner.

"And with a very difficult person, on the sounds of this?" asked Callaghan.

"Apparently," said Skinner.

Despite those acknowledgments, Skinner stood by his belief that Sebalj should have met face-to-face with the former parishioner.

He did tell Callaghan he couldn't specifically recall any other witnesses Sebalj failed to contact, and that overall, Sebalj was a competent officer who would have fit in on the Ottawa force.