Ottawa Sun

14 February 2008

By TREVOR PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA

CORNWALL -- The Cornwall police investigation into sexual abuse allegations made in 1992 by David Silmser was "inept and ineffective" but there was no evidence of a coverup, a public inquiry heard yesterday.

Supt. Brian Skinner, a now-retired Ottawa police officer, came to Cornwall for eight days in 1994 to examine how the local force responded to the complaints Silmser made against Father Charles MacDonald.

"Systemic" problems with the nine-month investigation, including potential witnesses going uninterviewed and a lead investigator who didn't have the proper training, were summarized in a report Skinner compiled in January 1994 and which was entered into evidence yesterday.

"It just had too many holes in it to be an effective investigation," Skinner told commission counsel Ian Stauffer.

 In the fall of 1993, Silmser was offered a $32,000 payment from the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese after alleging he was sexually abused by MacDonald, a diocesan priest.   

That settlement, which Silmser accepted after police declined to press charges against MacDonald, was eventually taken to the Children's Aid Society by former police officer Perry Dunlop. It has become one of the key reasons the inquiry is taking place.

Skinner said police chief Claude Shaver ignored Silmser's request to deal with a male police officer, instead assigning Const. Heidi Sebalj as the principal investigator.

Skinner said Sebalj had only been working with the force's youth bureau and was "far too junior" to conduct an investigation of that magnitude.

"It was my impression that Const. Sebalj was just thrown in the deep end and left to run with it," Skinner testified.

Skinner also said he learned about interviews involving Silmser that were never properly documented, either with written notes or with audio or video recordings.

Also, there was no formal report of either Silmser's complaint or Sebalj's investigation existed until October 1993.

Skinner also raised questions about the potential conflict of interest involving Crown Attorney Murray MacDonald, who had previously represented the Catholic church on a matter involving sexual misconduct policies.

Skinner said MacDonald should have referred all aspects of Silmser's case to another Crown attorney after divulging his potential conflict of interest. 

 Skinner is scheduled to return to the stand this morning