My stomach churns

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No hearings today. Nothing public at the Weave Shed until 14:00 (2 pm) Monday 18 June 2007.

A victim with the moniker C-11 took the stand yesterday afternoon. His testimony is completed.

C-11 was sexually abused by Richard Hickerson, a Canada Manpower employee and accomplished musician who taught/tutored violin at L’Ecole Musica in Cornwall, a facility run by the Holy Cross sisters in the Holy Cross convent.

Before landing in Cornwall Hickerson was a Roman Catholic priest serving in the Diocese of Prince Albert Saskatchewan.

According to C-11’s testimony Hickerson told C-11 that he, Hickerson, was kicked out of the priesthood for sexually abusing one boy in Saskatchewan. However it seems that Hickerson abused more than one boy during his priestly days. Indeed a reliable source in Saskatchewan has told me that Hickerson probably “did” every boy in the altar guild in Prince Albert. That source, a former altar boy still living in Saskatchewan, was also sexually abused by Father Richard Hickerson. After speaking with that source over the past months I am inclined to believe that at least back in the 60s and 70s the Diocese of Prince Albert was a den of inquity. I assure you that from what I know there are probably dozens of victims of clerical sexual abuse in/from the Diocese of Prince Albert who have never come forward.

Hickerson committed suicide 19 June 1998. The suicide came days after he admitted he had sexually abused C-11 and days before charges were to be laid.

There are many questions about Hickerson which demand answer. What has been commonly known for years is that Hickerson was good friends with probation officers Ken Seguin and Nelson Barque who, like Hickerson, committed suicide. Both men were Roman Catholics, Seguin a former seminarian known to have had a sexual relationship with Father Charles MacDonald.

Hickerson’s estate was left to James Lewis, another Cornwall child molester – convicted! – who is due back on the streets of Cornwall any day. To be very honest, this all makes my stomach churn. Sometimes I can deal with it, other times it’s hard.

How many Hickerson victims are out there? Who enabled Hickerson to ‘re-integrate’ in Cornwall? Who knew what this man was and did nothing to protect children? How many young lads did this man violate sexually? …in Saskatchewan? in Cornwall?

So many questions. What jurisdiction does this inquiry have to delve into Hickerson’s past as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church? Does it have authority to demand disclosure of records from the Diocese of Prince Albert? I rather doubt it. A proper mandate would have demanded that any and all of the persistent allegations of a paedophile ring and cover-up prompting calls for an inquiry would be pursued and thoroughly investigated specifically to affirm or deny the allegations. Instead we get a smorgasbord – a little of this, and little of that and not an awful lot about a paedophile ring and cover-up. At the end of the day Glaude will affirm his pre-determined opinion: there is and never was a paedophile ring and there is and never was a cover-up.

Anyway, I will get a page together for Hickerson and start posting the information I have on hand, both from C-11’s testimony and other sources. I will also wrap up and post Kevin Upper’s testimony. Will add links to C-11’s page once it’s started. Lots to do.

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I can’t get Glaude’s prognostication out of my head. Remember, way back when he publicly stated that the “rumour” and “innuendo” swirling around Cornwall on his arrival are false? Enough, Sylvia (cornwall@theinquiry.ca)

This entry was posted in Accused or charged, Canada, Clerical sexual predators, Cornwall, Cornwall Public Inquiry, Ken Seguin, Non clerical RC sexual predators, Scandal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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