Perry has now spent 64 days in jail.
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Hearings resume at 1300 hours (1 pm) this afternoon, Monday, 21 April 2008. S/Sgt. Claude Lortie will resume his testimony.
A busy week by the look of the schedule with one Cornwall Police Service officer after the other on and off the stand:
Claude Lortie – Staff Sergeant, Cornwall Community Police Service
Michael Quinn – Constable, Cornwall Community Police Service
Kevin Malloy – Constable (retired), Cornwall Community Police Service
Rick Trew – Inspector, Cornwall Community Police Service
Leo Courville – Former Chair, Cornwall Police Services Board
Brian Payment – Constable (retired), Cornwall Community Police Service
Jeff Carroll – Detective Sergeant, Cornwall Community Police Service
There is no day ascribed to anyone. I gather once Lortie’s testimony is finished the others will just be pumped through one after the other.
That’s seven witnesses in five days! From the CPS!!! A veritable revolving door of police officers on the witness stand. Looks like someone has decided in advance the latter six don’t know too much about anything, or that what they do or might know isn’t worth digging into.
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I posted the AM 1220 news item re Perry’s appeal scheduled for 29 April 2008. I made no comment because I didn’t know if Perry knew the date. I thought it was highly probable that he did not but was unsure. I wanted to check.
NO! As of Saturday afternoon Perry had not been contacted in any way shape or form by anyone anywhere to advise that a date has been set for his appeal!
Not impressive. Not impressive at all! That the court would put out word of the date before advising Perry is, to say the least, less than professional.
So, today is 21 April. Assuming Perry gets word today with official confirmation that his appeal will be heard 29 April 2009 he has eight days to prepare! In jail!! Minus access to a computer and law books.
Not impressive.
When exactly do they plan to let Perry know?
Will he get word today? We’ll have to wait and see. If indeed the date is 29 April, the court has chosen, for whatever reason, to let the whole world know before Perry.
This is an utter disgrace.
As for whether or not Perry will be in the courtroom for his own appeal, well, what can I say?
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I posted several articles on Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States. I missed live coverage on the weekend and have not yet tracked down articles, but it certainly seems he spoke frequently of and expressed concern regarding the clerical sex abuse scandal in the Church. He also met privately with several sex abuse victims.
Where does it go from here? That’s the question. Will clerical sexual predators be defrocked? Will the Code of Canon be revised to deal with this issue in such fashion that Roman Catholics have some degree of certainty that the priest in the sanctuary has never been known to lay a wayward hand on a child?
Again, we will have to wait and see. If the Holy Father is indeed sympathetic to the plight of countless victims and scandalized by the conduct of countless priests he will take action to address those issues.
Meanwhile Perry Dunlop is in jail. Were it not for the cover-up executed initially by Bishop Eugene Larocque Perry would not be where he is today. Had there been no pay-off there would have been no David Silmser obliged to tell the Cornwall Police Service he no longer wanted to pursue criminal charges against Father Charles MacDonald. Had there been no David Silmser compelled to tell the CPS he no longer wanted to pursue criminal charges there would have been no Perry Dunlop going to the Children’s Aid Society.
It’s that simple.
I am personally ashamed as a Roman Catholic to acknowledge that “the Church” has played a vital role on many fronts , directly and/or indirectly, in putting Perry where he is today.
Now and finally the Holy Father is publicly addressing and acknowledging the scandal of clerical sex abuse. Appeal to him. Write to Pope Benedict. Beg him to intervene on Perry’s behalf. Tell him Perry was a convert who now wants nothing to do with the Church. Tell him a good decent man is in jail because he as a Roman Catholic and as a police officer fulfilled his legal and moral obligation to protect children. Tell him Perry has been vilified by Catholics for doing what he did. Tell him. Ask him to speak up for Perry, and, yes, ask him for prayers for Perry and the entire Dunlop family.
If you are a victim yourself, let him know. If Perry has helped you and/or a family member or friend, let him know. If you know of any clergy or fellow Roman Catholics who have ridiculed and demeaned Perry for doing what he had to do, tell the Holy Father.
If you are comfortable sending a copy of your letter my way I will post it.
And a final note here – something I have been meaning to say for some time. Those of you who are Roman Catholics who still attend Mass, would you consider having Masses said at your parish for Perry! The price of an announced Mass varies from $10 to $20 depending on the diocese. It’s not a lot.
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Summer is here. Beautiful weather. I felt particularly badly talking to Perry on Saturday. He asked what I was doing when he called. I told him my husband was out cleaning off the deck and getting the patio furniture down from the rafters. He almost groaned: “You’re going to barbecue?” Yes. We had company coming and were getting set for the first barbecue of the season.
No barbeques for Perry this year.
But Charlie can barbeque. And Jacques Leduc can barbeque. And all the other “alleged” paedophiles of Cornwall can barbeque.
It reminded me yet again what a travesty of justice this is. What a terrible and unmitigated travesty of justice.
The whistleblower is in jail. The “alleged” paedophiles of Cornwall are out and about barbequeing and/or whatever. Children are at risk.
The shame of nation!
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I have been doing a bit of necessary fixing up on theinquiry.ca. I did start on the Garry Derochie testimony but didn’t get too far. Enough however to learn that Earl Landry Jr. molested one of his own nephews! That I did not know.
Also, I have been asked where Earl Landry Jr. served his five year sentence and how much of the five years he actually served. Offhand I don’t know. Can anyone help me out?
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I have been working on something else – wanted to get permission first to post a document. Hopefully that will come tomorrow,
And that’s enough for now,
Sylvia
Who at the radio station has an in at the court house – and which court house – for them to have announced the date prior to Perry being notified?
I’d sure be cautious with this one….is it court that didn’t put the word out or the radio station stepping in somewhere where they didn’t belong???
My guess – the radio station.
In case you have not been following this pope was well aware of the extent of abuse in his church long before he became pope. He has been part of the cover up. Please don’t mistake this meeting with victims as progress of any kind. The meeting was secret until the media was notified and the victims were hand picked. Another media spin to leave the impression the problem is solved.
The pope has gone on record repeatedly referring to the problem of abuse by clergy as an American problem. This is another media spin and misrepresentation. He is well aware that any country that has a Catholic population has reported large scale problems with clergy abuse and cover up of the problem by Bishops. Canada’s residential schools, Mount Cashel and thousands of lawsuits demonstrate the cover up by our Canadian Bishops.
To date the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has failed to write a policy that will force bishops across the country to have a consistant policy to handle abuse allegations. No Canadian priest to my knowledge, has gone on record supporting victims and speaking out about the injustices. I can assure you if one ever comes forward they will be harrassed out of their job.
So with all due respect, to look to the Catholic church, the Pope or your local Catholic priest to help Perry Dunlop would be like asking wolves to help a hen. I wouldn’t waste my time.