Do the right thing

Excellent sentiments expressed by Norma Christie in the following email to Cornwall’s police chief Dan Parkinson:   

Chief Dan Parkinson

As a former resident of Ontario I am familiar with Project Truth and the Cornwall Inquiry.  I was pleased to see your apology in the media.
 
However, nowhere can I find an apology to Perry Dunlop.  This man put himself on line for the survivors of sexual abuse.  He was fired and had to move his family to another province because of the way he was treated.  I had the good fortune to meet Perry and his wife, Helen.  They are good community people and helped survivors when they were not believed.
 
The Inquiry said the following: “Dunlop was right to disclose the settlement to the Children’s Aid Society, said Glaude”
 
Please do the right thing and undo a small bit of the damage done to Perry.  An apology is a small thing after what this family has been through.
 
In my work in Lanark County, I accompanied survivors (both male and female) as they went through the
legal system.  They carry the hurt and pain for a long time.  Your apology to Perry, made public, would ease some of their burden as well.
 
Yours truly,
 
Norma Christie
Women for Justice
689B Waterloo Row,
Fredericton, N. B.
E3B 1Z6

Way to go Norma!  Well said. 

Yes, in the current rush to issue apologies, a few apologies to Perry would be nice – they’re long overdue. 

I picked up the Glaude tome yesterday, just opened it at random and read a few more pages. 

I just get annoyed.  Look at this:

(1) James Lewis, eventually convicted of possession of child pornography and then of child sexual abuse, was interviewed by Constable Jeff Carroll,this after the suicide of Lewis’ buddy ex-priest Richard Hickerson when Lewis was found in possession of a collection of child pornography.  Lewis told Carroll that he, Lewis, believes that children are sexual beings and capable of consenting to sexual acts. 

That’s the standard line of sexual predators who prey on children.  And of proponents of what they now refer to as “intergenerational sex,”and organizations advocating man-boy sex, such as NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association). Despite Lewis’s perverted notions  Carroll did not, for example, ask if Lewis was, as Glaude wrote, “having sex with children.”   There was no warrant to conduct a thorough search of the house: no interviews of neighbours: no surveillance.  Charges of child pornography at that time (1998) did not stick – unbelievably the Lewis statement was not entered into evidence! 

After the above incident the Cornwall Police Service destroyed 60 pounds of pornographic materials seized from the homes of Hickerson and Lewis.  Sixty pounds!  All those incriminating pictures and tapes up in smoke!!!

Several years later (2004) Lewis was again charged with and pleaded guilty (2005) to possession of child porn.   He got 18 months house arrest!!!

In 2005 Lewis was charged and pleaded guilty to indecent assault of Jamie Marsolais.   Lewis got the grand total of  six months!

Question:

(a) How many other Lewis’ victims might be out there, afraid and ashamed to come forward?

(b) Will we ever hear from victims who were abused AFTER Lewis was let loose in 1998?  i.e., AFTER police knew that he was into kiddie porn and candidly told them that he believes children are sexual beings capable of consent, at which time police presumably did not for one moment think that this man might just be a child molester?!!!

(c)  If perchance he pleads guilty – or goes to trial and is found gulity –  can Bishop Raymond Lahey anticipate a ‘tut tut, bad boy you’ mere 18 months house arrest?

(2) The bungling of Marc Latour’s sex abuse allegations against Roman Catholic elementary school teacher Gilf Greggain is heart breaking and disgusting.  There was no investigation of any substance.  Charges were never laid.  I must read what else is said throughout the report on this. For now…

Question:

(a) Can the Latour allegations against Greggain be re-opened?  Is there enough evidence after these many years to proceed or are too many witnesses who could corroborate Marc’s allegations now deceased?  I don’t know, but I do believe that all of these bungled “investigations” should, where at all possible, be re-opened.

I can’t see why not. 

So, a short read, but loaded.  The report is very comprehensive and without doubt took a lot of painstaking work to compile.  That said, I am struck right now by the audacity of those who say Perry Dunlop didn’t conduct his interviews properly.   All I can say is that Perry  followed the evidence and he conducted interviews, which. given the evidence we heard at the inquiry and now read in Glaude’s time, seems to be far far more than his superiors at the Cornwall Police Force were capable of doing – or willing to do.  It’s almost laughable.  Those who did next to nothing to reign in child molesters busily parsing every word and analyzing every move and criticizing every turn of the one man who did!

As I scan the report I see confirmation of what we heard in evidence, that S/Sgt Garry Derochie was involved in most of the ‘bungled’ cases in some capacity.  Why, I can’t help but wonder, did Derochie not go after those officers who failed so abysmally in their duties as he did going after Perry?  Why, for example, did he never single out Carroll and invest countless hours and thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to prove incompetence, or obstruction, or ulterior motives on Carroll’s part? 

Frustrating. 

The one ray of sunshine I see  to date is that, as Norma writes, Glaude said that Perry did the right thing in going to the CAS.  That and that alone must be a source of untold anguish and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth for all those within the ranks of the Cornwall Police Service who expended countless man hours and dollars while running themselves in ever decreasing circles trying to pillory Perry for doing just that.  

Still lots of reading to do and little time before Christmas – I will pick away, but after Christmas vow to go at it methodically from start to finish. I think that’s the only way to truly get a handle on what Justice Glaude had to say as he steered and danced his way as close to down the middle of the Cornwall scandal and cover-up as possible.  

Now, back to the Christmas tree, and setting up my little Dickens Christmas village.  I didn’t manage to get the village up last year – it will be up this year 🙂  The grandchildren love it!

Enough for now,

Sylvia

(cornwall@theinquiry.ca)