SQLFusion - Media coverage on final submissions 23 Febraury 2009

Slow response fuelled 'panic,' inquiry told

Final submissions made to judge probing Cornwall abuse allegations

The Ottawa Citizen

24 February 24 2009

By Neco Cockburn

A "moral panic" swept Cornwall when local institutions did not respond appropriately to allegations of widespread child sexual abuse, a community group has told a public inquiry."

Many historic abuse allegations in Cornwall would never have been 'historic' cases at all had they been handled properly when they were first brought forward as contemporaneous allegations," the Citizens for Community Renewal (CCR) states in final submissions to the provincial inquiry, which is looking into the institutional response to allegations of sexual abuse going back to the 1950s.

"Because institutions typically tried to avoid dealing publicly with abuse allegations, preferring instead to keep complaints about their employees 'internal,' that approach made it easier for the community to believe that they were engaged in active 'cover-ups,'" states the CCR, which played a lead role in the establishment of the inquiry.

The community group and several others are making final submissions this week at the inquiry, which has been hearing testimony since February 2006. Inquiry head Justice Normand Glaude has until July 31 to submit his report and recommendations.

He has heard testimony from about 175 witnesses who range from victims of sexual abuse to contextual experts and current and former officials at institutions such as the Alexandria-Cornwall Diocese, Cornwall police, Ontario Provincial Police, Children's Aid Society and Upper Canada District School Board.

Some institutions place much of the blame for the community's fears on the work of former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop -- whose investigation had helped touch off a sex scandal in the city -- painting him as a rogue officer involved in a conspiracy theory. Other groups say he filled a void caused by the institutions' lack of action.

Following a sweeping investigation known as Project Truth that began in 1992, provincial police laid 114 charges against 15 people, including a doctor, a lawyer and three members of the Roman Catholic clergy.

Only three cases made it to court, with one man pleading guilty. Police said they found no evidence that a pedophile ring operated in the city.

Dunlop refused to testify at the public inquiry, saying he had lost faith in the judicial process. As a result, he was jailed more than seven months for contempt of court.

In a written submission, the Alexandria-Cornwall Diocese claims "the scandal in Cornwall arose, and grew to the proportions it did, because of a combination of the actions of certain individuals which created an environment of fear, paranoia and powerful negative imagery."

The diocese argues that allegations of sexual abuse that emerged in the early 1990s met an "environment of social and institutional ignorance."

Perry Dunlop emerged into this environment of ignorance," and, after he got into a conflict with his police force "began to suffer serious psychological health challenges which affected his ability and significantly, it is submitted, impaired his judgment," the diocese states.

Cornwall police also blame the former officer and a group of "conspiracy theorists" for some of the pedophile clan-related allegations."

It is clear that Dunlop's motives require close scrutiny," the force states.

However, the Victims Group, comprising sexual assault victims, argues that Dunlop "filled a hole created by inept, ineffective, incompetent and corrupt public institutions in Cornwall," emerging as a "trusted figure to whom victims of abuse could turn in the hopes that someone would listen with compassion and understanding."

"The reasons that Dunlop and the community lost faith in their institutions and the effects of that lost faith are the real issues," the group states.

Other parties offer Judge Glaude several recommendations and suggestions.

The Coalition for Action, a community group, argues an independent body is needed to investigate allegations of conspiracy and corruption against high-level public officials, that the diocese be subject to "strict internal and external audits," that information sharing be improved and that whistleblower protection be extended to police.

Ontario Provincial Police make recommendations related to a training program review, sexual abuse protocols, improved information sharing and a fast-tracking process to expedite sexual offences through the court system. T

he Children's Aid Society asked the judge to consider several witness recommendations, including a training program for police and CAS workers regarding sexual abuse of children and procedural changes in the agency's response to children who make abuse allegations, such as having two workers involved in all contact with the complainant.

Complete written submissions from all parties can be found on the inquiry's web site: cornwallinquiry.ca/en/hearings/submissions/index.html.

Public assumes sex assault suspects guilty: lawyer

CTV TV Updated: Tue Feb. 24 2009 1:01:28 PM

The Canadian Press

CORNWALL, Ont. — The public's tendency to presume the guilt of people accused of sexually abusing children allowed a "moral panic" to take root in this eastern Ontario city and rumours of a pedophile clan to flourish, a public inquiry heard Tuesday.

There are safeguards in the Canadian legal system to ensure an accused is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise, but no such safeguards exist for public perception, said lawyer Giuseppe Cipriano.

"When society places the onus on the alleged abuser to prove his innocence then a moral panic is possible," Cipriano said in closing submissions to the three-year, $40-million Cornwall inquiry.

In 1992, a 35-year-old former altar boy came forward with allegations he was sexually abused by both probation officer Ken Seguin and Rev. Charles MacDonald.

Seguin committed suicide in 1993 and was never charged. MacDonald was investigated three times, charges were laid after the third but were eventually stayed because the case took too long to come to trial.

A moral panic ensued when further allegations of sexual abuse involving high-profile local officials emerged and rumours abounded that a clan of pedophiles was involved in bizarre sexual rituals, said Cipriano, the lawyer for the estate of Seguin.

Cipriano was joined by MacDonald's lawyer, Michael Neville, in arguing changes to the system are needed.

Better public education would help ensure accused sex abusers aren't immediately presumed guilty and hopefully prevent the controversy that has gripped Cornwall for so many years from occurring elsewhere, the inquiry heard.

A test of a reasonable prospect of conviction before sexual assault charges are laid should be replaced with the requirement of an "objective likelihood" of conviction, Neville added. When such an allegation is made, it shouldn't automatically be passed on to the accused's employer without proper investigation of the claim, he added.

"Some genies never go back in the bottle," Neville told the inquiry.

The inquiry's mandate is not to examine the veracity of the clan theory. Rather, it was established to probe how public institutions handled allegations of sexual abuse.

Still, rumours of a pedophile ring make up the context that gave rise to the inquiry.

Following the original abuse complaint in 1992, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services received 22 complaints of alleged abuse by Seguin.

In its written submissions to the inquiry, the ministry alleged people didn't come forward before because Seguin exploited victims' inability to speak about abuse.

However, Cipriano said all the alleged victims came forward in the context of hysteria created by former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop and others.

Dunlop championed the investigation and was determined to unearth a backroom clan, pursuing his own investigation off-hours and passing on information to other police forces.

Provincial police set up the Project Truth investigation in 1997 and laid 114 charges against 15 people, but found no evidence of a pedophile ring and, ultimately, only one person was convicted.

In closing submissions Monday, several parties suggested a failure by local institutions to properly address sex abuse allegations left a void in the community that was filled by Dunlop, making him the "alternate constabulary."

Dunlop, who had pushed for the Cornwall inquiry, refused to testify and was jailed for seven months on civil and criminal contempt convictions.

Public institutions failed, inquiry hears

Final summations begin on Project Truth

Ottawa Sun

24 February 2009

By ALLISON JONES, The Canadian Press

CORNWALL - The mishandling of sexual abuse allegations by "inept" officials in eastern Ontario sent victims flocking to a crusading police constable determined to unearth a pedophile ring and a conspiracy to cover it up, a public inquiry heard yesterday.

Although not the focus of the Cornwall inquiry, the role of former city police officer Perry Dunlop was front and centre as the commission began hearing final submissions after three years of testimony and $40 million spent so far.

While some argued Dunlop "lost his way" while conducting his off-hours investigation in the early 1990s, others told the inquiry he "did the right thing" and is deserving of an apology.

At least two of the parties that presented yesterday seemed to agree on one point - Dunlop would have never gained the status he did if not for the failure of public institutions.

"The local hero and his supporters then become the alternate constabulary, if you will. They become the alternate people to whom one goes to report abuse," lawyer Helen Daley, representing Citizens for Community Renewal, told the inquiry.

Dunlop's efforts to root out a clandestine ring led to wild allegations during a "pedophile smear campaign" that unjustly harmed the reputations of many local authorities, the inquiry heard.

"Const. Dunlop lost his way," Daley said. "He lost his way, but no one individual, no matter how misguided or how committed to a misguided cause, should have caused this result."

The Victims Group, which argued Commissioner Normand Glaude should entertain the idea that "something more sinister" may have been behind the inadequate response of institutions, submitted that Dunlop "filled a hole created by inept, ineffective, incompetent and corrupt public institutions in Cornwall."

"The fact that victims of abuse flocked to disclose their abuse to Dunlop, having never reported to the police or any other agency, should be taken as a scathing indictment of those institutions," the group said.

While rumours abounded for years of high-profile officials, professionals and clergy taking part in bizarre sexual rituals and abusing young people, several separate police investigations found no evidence of such a ring.

One man who told Dunlop he witnessed a clan of pedophiles who wore robes, burned candles and sexually abused young boys during weekend meetings in the 1950s and early '60s recanted his story at the inquiry.

The inquiry's mandate was not to examine the alleged pedophile ring, but rather the institutional response to allegations of sexual abuse.

A provincial police probe, dubbed Project Truth, saw police lay 114 charges against 15 men in the 1990s, but no evidence of an organized, back-room clan was ever found.

Some people in the city steadfastly cling to the belief in the clan and a conspiracy to keep it secret. That belief was able to gain a foothold due in part to rampant homophobia and bungling by local agencies, Citizens for Community Renewal wrote in its submissions.

"For this equation of homosexuality with 'pedophilia' to occur in the 21st century and for people to reason that associated gay men were guilty by association is a reflection of the depth of the community's homophobia," the group said.

When confronted with sexual abuse allegations, institutions such as the local diocese and probation office handled such complaints internally instead of taking them to the police, the group said.

Institutions such as the Children's Aid Society, Cornwall Police Service, Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall and the Ontario Provincial Police are to bear much of the blame, the Victims Group added.

Any attempt by the institutions to place the blame for the allegations and failed prosecutions squarely on Dunlop are merely trying to avoid scrutiny themselves, the group said, saving some of its harshest criticism for government.

"While the failings of many other institutions infuriated victims and outraged the community, the failed prosecutions that were mishandled and botched by the Ministry of the Attorney General were the final insults," the group said.

Of the 15 men charged as a result of Project Truth, only a bus driver was convicted. Four died before their cases came to trial, four were acquitted, four had the charges against them withdrawn, and two had the charges against them stayed over delays.

Dunlop, who has since moved to British Columbia and no longer works in law enforcement, retains a group of staunch supporters, and the organization Coalition for Action delivered to the inquiry a message from Dunlop's followers.

"He needs an apology from somebody in a high position for what he went through," said lawyer Frank Horn.

Presumption of child sex abuse guilt fuelled sex ring rumours, lawyer says

macleans.ca

24 February 24 2009

Allison Jones, THE CANADIAN PRESS

There are safeguards in the Canadian legal system to ensure an accused is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise, but no such safeguards exist for public perception, said lawyer Giuseppe Cipriano.

"When society places the onus on the alleged abuser to prove his innocence then a moral panic is possible," Cipriano said in closing submissions to the three-year, $40-million Cornwall inquiry.

In 1992, a 35-year-old former altar boy came forward with allegations he was sexually abused by both probation officer Ken Seguin and Rev. Charles MacDonald.

Seguin committed suicide in 1993 and was never charged. MacDonald was investigated three times, and charges were laid after the third but eventually stayed because the case took too long to come to trial.

As more people came forward and alleged they too had been abused by a priest, or teacher or some other official, the city was gripped by a "hysteria" that a mass of child abusers were in their midst, lawyers Cipriano and Michael Neville told the inquiry.

"What images more caught the imagination and raised the anxieties of the Cornwall community than the allegations that prominent citizens of Cornwall preyed on Cornwall's young and used their positions... to prevent detection, or worse, to corrupt the law enforcement process," said Neville, who represents MacDonald.

A test of a reasonable prospect of conviction before sexual assault charges are laid should be replaced with the requirement of an "objective likelihood" of conviction, Neville said. When such an allegation is made, it shouldn't automatically be passed on to the accused's employer without proper investigation of the claim, he added.

"Some genies never go back in the bottle," Neville told the inquiry.

He also said the first two decisions not to lay charges against MacDonald were "not only proper, they were legally, indeed constitutionally, correct."

The inquiry's mandate is not to examine the veracity of the clan theory. Rather, it was established to probe how public institutions handled allegations of sexual abuse.

Still, rumours of a pedophile ring make up the context that gave rise to the inquiry, Neville argued.

Following the original abuse complaint in 1992, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services received 22 complaints of alleged abuse by Seguin.

In its written submissions to the inquiry, the ministry alleged people didn't come forward before because Seguin exploited victims' inability to speak about abuse.

However, Cipriano said all the alleged victims came forward in the context of hysteria created by former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop and others.

Dunlop championed the investigation and was determined to unearth a backroom clan, pursuing his own investigation off-hours and passing on information to other police forces.

Provincial police set up the Project Truth investigation in 1997 and laid 114 charges against 15 people, but found no evidence of a pedophile ring and, ultimately, only one person was convicted.

The Crown's failure to convict any others was seen by some as further evidence of collusion among Cornwall's upper echelons of power and fuelled the rumours that not only was a pedophile ring operating in the city, but that high-ranking officials were conspiring to shield its participants.

In closing submissions to the inquiry, the Ministry of the Attorney General acknowledged some problems with the cases, but said there have since been relevant changes made.

Last year, the province launched a "Justice on Target" strategy, which strives toward a 30 per cent reduction in the average number of days and court appearances in 90 per cent of cases by 2012.

In addition, under today's standards, the Project Truth prosecutions would have been handled as a "major case" within a protocol established in 2001.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services also said many changes have been made with respect to probation offices since the Seguin allegations and that still more changes will be implemented

"This is a different ministry with different clientele that is operating much more transparently with a higher degree of professionalism," said ministry lawyer David Rose.

Inept local agencies left void filled by crusading cop, Cornwall inquiry hears

Macleans.ca

23 February 2009 Allison Jones, THE CANADIAN PRESS

CORNWALL, Ont. - The mishandling of sexual abuse allegations by "inept" officials in eastern Ontario sent victims flocking to a crusading police constable determined to unearth a pedophile ring and a conspiracy to cover it up, a public inquiry heard Monday.

While some argued Dunlop "lost his way" while conducting his off-hours investigation in the early 1990s, others told the inquiry he "did the right thing" and is deserving of an apology.

At least two of the parties that presented Monday seemed to agree on one point - Dunlop would have never gained the status he did if not for the failure of public institutions. "The local hero and his supporters then become the alternate constabulary, if you will.

They become the alternate people to whom one goes to report abuse," lawyer Helen Daley, representing Citizens for Community Renewal, told the inquiry.

Dunlop's efforts to root out a clandestine ring led to wild allegations during a "pedophile smear campaign" that unjustly harmed the reputations of many local authorities, the inquiry heard.

"Const. Dunlop lost his way," Daley said. "He lost his way, but no one individual, no matter how misguided or how committed to a misguided cause, should have caused this result."

The inquiry's mandate was not to examine the alleged pedophile ring.

A provincial police probe, dubbed Project Truth, saw police lay 114 charges against 15 men in the 1990s, but no evidence of an organized, backroom clan was ever found.

When confronted with sexual abuse allegations, institutions such as the local diocese and probation office handled such complaints internally instead of taking them to the police, the group said.

Institutions such as the Children's Aid Society, Cornwall Police Service, Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, and the Ontario Provincial Police are to bear much of the blame, the Victims Group added.

"He needs an apology from somebody in a high position for what he went through," said lawyer Frank Horn, who was moved nearly to tears in discussing Dunlop's plight.

Some see Dunlop as the victim of a witch hunt, and view criticism of his actions as an attempt to make him a scapegoat for botched investigations and prosecutions.

Dunlop, who has since moved to British Columbia, refused to testify at the inquiry and was jailed for seven months on civil and criminal contempt convictions.

He has been criticized for withholding information from investigators, but Horn said Dunlop was just doing what he thought was right.

"Perry was afraid to just give it to them because he didn't know if they were going to use it or if they were going to lose it," Horn said.

The coalition put forward several recommendations, including whistleblower protection for police officers.

Presumption of child sex abuse guilt fuelled sex ring rumours, lawyer says

metronews.ca Ottawa

24 February 24 2009 06:10

ALLISON JONES
Canadian Press

CORNWALL, Ont. - Sensational allegations that a clandestine pedophile ring operated in eastern Ontario were fuelled by the kind of moral panic that takes hold when the public presumes people accused of sexually abusing children are guilty, a public inquiry was told Tuesday.

There are safeguards in the Canadian legal system to ensure an accused is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise, but no such safeguards exist for public perception, said lawyer Giuseppe Cipriano.

"When society places the onus on the alleged abuser to prove his innocence then a moral panic is possible," Cipriano said in closing submissions to the three-year, $40-million Cornwall inquiry.

In 1992, a 35-year-old former altar boy came forward with allegations he was sexually abused by both probation officer Ken Seguin and Rev. Charles MacDonald.

Seguin committed suicide in 1993 and was never charged. MacDonald was investigated three times, and charges were laid after the third but eventually stayed because the case took too long to come to trial.

As more people came forward and alleged they too had been abused by a priest, or teacher or some other official, the city was gripped by a "hysteria" that a mass of child abusers were in their midst, lawyers Cipriano and Michael Neville told the inquiry.

"What images more caught the imagination and raised the anxieties of the Cornwall community than the allegations that prominent citizens of Cornwall preyed on Cornwall's young and used their positions... to prevent detection, or worse, to corrupt the law enforcement process," said Neville, who represents MacDonald.

Better public education would help ensure accused sex abusers aren't immediately presumed guilty and hopefully prevent the controversy that has gripped Cornwall for so many years from occurring elsewhere, the inquiry heard.

A test of a reasonable prospect of conviction before sexual assault charges are laid should be replaced with the requirement of an "objective likelihood" of conviction, Neville said. When such an allegation is made, it shouldn't automatically be passed on to the accused's employer without proper investigation of the claim, he added.

"Some genies never go back in the bottle," Neville told the inquiry.

He also said the first two decisions not to lay charges against MacDonald were "not only proper, they were legally, indeed constitutionally, correct."

The inquiry's mandate is not to examine the veracity of the clan theory. Rather, it was established to probe how public institutions handled allegations of sexual abuse.

Still, rumours of a pedophile ring make up the context that gave rise to the inquiry, Neville argued.

Following the original abuse complaint in 1992, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services received 22 complaints of alleged abuse by Seguin.

In its written submissions to the inquiry, the ministry alleged people didn't come forward before because Seguin exploited victims' inability to speak about abuse.

However, Cipriano said all the alleged victims came forward in the context of hysteria created by former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop and others.

Dunlop championed the investigation and was determined to unearth a backroom clan, pursuing his own investigation off-hours and passing on information to other police forces.

Provincial police set up the Project Truth investigation in 1997 and laid 114 charges against 15 people, but found no evidence of a pedophile ring and, ultimately, only one person was convicted.

The Crown's failure to convict any others was seen by some as further evidence of collusion among Cornwall's upper echelons of power and fuelled the rumours that not only was a pedophile ring operating in the city, but that high-ranking officials were conspiring to shield its participants.

In closing submissions to the inquiry, the Ministry of the Attorney General acknowledged some problems with the cases, but said there have since been relevant changes made.

Last year, the province launched a "Justice on Target" strategy, which strives toward a 30 per cent reduction in the average number of days and court appearances in 90 per cent of cases by 2012.

In addition, under today's standards, the Project Truth prosecutions would have been handled as a "major case" within a protocol established in 2001.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services also said many changes have been made with respect to probation offices since the Seguin allegations and that still more changes will be implemented

"This is a different ministry with different clientele that is operating much more transparently with a higher degree of professionalism," said ministry lawyer David Rose.