CLAUDE SHAVER
MY PERSONAL WEB-SITE
The following are newspaper articles from the
Witness admits he lied for revenge
Terri Saunders
Local News - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry admitted Tuesday that as an act of revenge he lied about having observed prominent area men participating in sexual rituals.
Ron Leroux told the commission he didn't actually see the men engaged in any rituals, despite the fact several statements signed by him in the past included comments about having seen the acts performed first hand.
"I was angry for being molested," Leroux said. "I wanted to get back at them somehow."
A number of documents entered as exhibits at the inquiry Tuesday contain statements attributed to Leroux in which he recalls having observed a "clan" of pedophiles engaged in ritualistic acts involving young boys at a cottage on Cameron's Point in the late 1950s or early 1960s.
Several of the statements were taken by former city cop Perry Dunlop in the 1990s.
"(In one statement) you say the image is pretty vivid in your mind, that you can remember that like it was yesterday," said Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
|
|
"That's a lie or something," said Leroux.
"You didn't see a ritual?" asked Engelmann.
"No," said Leroux. "That's not something I saw. It was something that was told to me by a man around my age who was working at a city clothing store. I told the story to Dunlop and he put it in there." Leroux admitted he signed the statements without reading them to ensure the contents were accurate.
"Why would you do that?" asked Engelmann.
"I don't know," said Leroux. "I just wanted to get this over with. I didn't want to have anything to do with that man (Dunlop)."
Leroux also told the commission many of the things attributed to him in statements taken by Dunlop just weren't true.
In one statement, Leroux apparently tells Dunlop he was sexually assaulted by three members of the clergy - Rev. Bernard Cameron, Rev. Donald McDougald and former Bishop Eugene LaRocque. The allegations were investigated by police and no charges were ever laid against any of the three men in relation to Leroux's allegations.
On Tuesday, Leroux said when he told his father about alleged assaults which occurred at the hands of Cameron and McDougald in a school confessional, his father immediately went to see church officials and a police officer about what his son had told him.
But in statements given to Dunlop, Leroux apparently says he told both his parents about the alleged abuse and wasn't believed.
"I told my parents . . . and . . . my father said they were men of the cloth; they wouldn't do that," Leroux is alleged to have told Dunlop.
During testimony, Leroux said he never disclosed the abuse in the way it's depicted in the Dunlop statement.
"That's not true," he said. "I would never have talked to my mother about that."
When asked why the Dunlop statements read the way they do, Leroux had just one explanation.
"I did anything (Dunlop) told me to do," said Leroux. "There are discrepancies in a lot of (these statements). If I said anything about it, he (Dunlop) would say, 'Don't worry about it.'
"I had been through a lot. I was muddled up. This guy was hounding me and then he sics a lawyer on me. You do what you're told."
Engelmann continually pointed out the fact many of the things Leroux said in the past differ from what he said on the witness stand Tuesday.
"That's why I'm here," said Leroux, who also claimed he was constantly coerced into making statements. "I want the truth out there. I've had enough of it."
The inquiry continues today with more of Leroux's testimony.
|
Witness says abuse has left him a 'loner'
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 08:00
Ron Leroux said the sexual abuse he allegedly suffered as a young person has greatly damaged his ability to lead a normal life.
Leroux told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday he can't trust anyone in authority and harbours animosity towards many public institutions.
"(I have) a loss of trust in the church, a loss of trust in police, a loss of trust of people in authority," said Leroux. "I have anger towards public institutions for doing nothing."
Leroux has admitted while on the stand at the inquiry he made false statements about prominent men having sexually assaulted young boys and wishes he could go back in time to do things differently.
"I take responsibility for my actions," he said. "If I could change the past, I would, but I can't. I'm doing this to set the record straight today."
Leroux said he has always felt alone, feels as if he lost his childhood and chances for an education and claims to live in isolation, referring to himself as "a loner."
He said he felt used and manipulated by former city cop Perry Dunlop when it came to providing Dunlop with statements about child sexual abuse he had claimed to have either witnessed or had some knowledge about.
"I felt pressured by Perry Dunlop to help him," said Leroux. "I tried to resist at first, but he kept at me. (He) told me I was important."
Leroux said while there was a time when he trusted Dunlop and was willing to join him in a crusade to "protect children," he now feels as if he has been left behind by the former cop.
"I feel abandoned," said Leroux. "He left me alone to face this mess."
Lead commission counsel Peter Engelmann suggested to Leroux Thursday he has never personally witnessed any criminal acts being carried out by a group of prominent area men against children.
"You didn't have any knowledge of any of these men being engaged in sexual improprieties with people under the age of 18," Engelmann said.
"That's correct," said Leroux.
"You know it can cause harm to person to be described as a pedophile," said Engelmann.
"Yes," said Leroux.
The inquiry continues today when it's expected the commission will view videotapes and listen to audiotapes of statements Leroux has given in the past to Dunlop and police investigators.
v
Alcohol consumed during meetings with former cop Dunlop: Leroux
Terri Saunders / Standard-Freeholder
Local News - Thursday, June 28, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry admitted Wednesday alcohol was often part of the equation during meetings he had with a former city cop and a lawyer in the 1990s.
Ron Leroux said there were many times when he, Perry Dunlop and Charles Bourgeois would consume alcohol either before or after drafting statements related to Leroux's allegations of abuse at the hands of several priests.
"I had to put him in a taxi a few times," said Leroux, referring to Bourgeois, a lawyer who was acting for Dunlop at the time on a civil action the former cop had launched against the Cornwall Community Police Force.
"Were you drunk at some of these meetings?" asked Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"Possibly," said Leroux.
"Were they?" said Engelmann, referring to Dunlop and Bourgeois.
"They were feeling good," said Leroux, who recalled leaving a hotel room once with the two men and spending some time in the hotel's lounge drinking before returning to the room to draft a statement. "We'd go to the bar, sit around, talk, have a few and go back up."
Leroux went so far as to suggest Bourgeois was significantly inebriated at times and needed assistance with simple tasks such as walking.
"I helped him down the stairs at three in the morning many times," said Leroux, "because he couldn't stand up."
Leroux said Dunlop expressed concern for his own safety in the years after he was charged under the police services act with discreditable conduct. A board of inquiry later acquitted Dunlop of those charges.
"He (Dunlop) said everybody on the force hates me," Leroux said Wednesday. "He said, 'I gotta watch my back.'
He said, 'I don't get any backup when I'm working.'"
Leroux said he recalled a time when he visited Dunlop and was shocked by what he saw.
"He could barely walk," said Leroux. "He said he'd gotten beat up." Leroux said Dunlop seemed to be focused mainly on alleged perpetrators being punished.
"He said, 'We're gonna kick in some doors down there (in
Leroux said he supported Dunlop's efforts.
"I thought, 'That's something I've wanted to do since 1956,'" said Leroux. "And he was going to do it."
The inquiry adjourned early Wednesday afternoon after Leroux told commission officials he needed to rest.
The hearings are expected to resume today at 9:30 a.m.
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday said the wife of a former city cop asked him to stick to his story when testifying before the commission.
Ron Leroux said Helen Dunlop, wife of former city cop Perry Dunlop, told him during a telephone conversation sometime in the past year he should testify at the inquiry and that he should not stray from the things he's said in the past.
"She asked how I was doing and she asked if I was going to testify," said Leroux. "She told me not change
my story."
|
Photo: -
|
Clan claims are crumbling
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 08:00
A list of names of area men purported to comprise a clan of pedophiles began to crumble like a falling house of cards at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday.
Ron Leroux told the commission several of the names on a list of priests, police officers, lawyers and businessmen he has often claimed in the past he saw in a variety of locations in various groupings and whom he claimed to have witnessed sexually assaulting young boys don't belong there.
"That's why I'm here today - to set the record straight," said Leroux. "I'm taking the blame for some of this mess."
Outside the hearing, a lawyer for the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese said Leroux's testimony is proof many of the pillars upon which rumours of a clan of pedophiles having operated in the city for years have no foundation.
David Sherriff-Scott said the community has long been held captive by the existence of this list of prominent people alleged to be pedophiles, claims these men gathered together to both abuse young children and "control" the situation and Leroux's allegations he'd witnessed the "spectre of dark, ritual abuse" of young boys.
"(These) are three things that have gripped the collective conscience of this community," said David Sherriff-Scott. "These things have now been shown to be false and this is extraordinary . . . for the community."
Many of the names Leroux said don't belong on the list are those of area priests the man has claimed in the past he saw in the company of Ken Seguin, a deceased probation officer or Malcolm MacDonald, a deceased Crown attorney.
Both
Leroux also testified he never used the phrase "clan of pedophiles" and couldn't understand why it would appear in affidavits he's signed in the past.
"Those words - 'clan of pedophiles' - those words didn't come from me," said Leroux. "I didn't orchestrate this."
During testimony Wednesday, Leroux suggested former city cop Perry Dunlop and his lawyer, Charles Bourgeois, added comments to Leroux's statements without his knowledge.
On Thursday, Leroux conceded he may have actually provided the two men with the information contained in the statements.
"I might have told them I saw it," said Leroux, referring to statements he's alleged to have made in the past about having witnessed a group of prominent men performing bizarre sexual rituals involving young boys.
Leroux also confirmed he went on to repeat the statements to investigators and never once told them portions were inaccurate.
"You knew that making allegations (against) people without any evidence could have caused these people great harm," said Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"That's correct," said Leroux.
"Why did you do that?" asked Engelmann.
"I had a lawyer with me," said Leroux, referring to Bourgeois. "He said, 'Just read it. Just do it.'"
Sherriff-Scott said many of the priests whose names appeared on the list have been following the inquiry to some extent. He said he believes they have been somewhat exonerated by Leroux's testimony after having spent years living under a dark cloud and having been labeled as pedophiles.
"They are concerned, not just about themselves, but about the community," he said. "I'm sure upon hearing this today they will be very relieved."
False allegations have hurt innocent people
McIntosh, Claude
Local News - Saturday, June 30, 2007 @ 08:00
Back in the 1960s a young woman went missing in
Somehow a psychic in
A manhunt was organized by the local radio station.
Hundreds of people scoured the city in search of a body.
The next day the truth was disclosed: it was a hoax.
The young lady had run off with her boyfriend.
Today, the city is dealing with an even bigger hoax . . . the biggest and most damaging hoax ever inflicted on this community.
It is also arguably the most expensive hoax the country has known.
We speak of the Cornwall Public Inquiry and its investigation into allegations that a clan of pedophiles, made up of mostly prominent citizens, operated with impunity.
According to the wicked tale, orgies were held in and around the city and involved young boys.
Some of these sadistic rituals had the young, naked boys paraded around in white sheets with candles inserted in their rectums.
The clan list, it was claimed, contained the names of priests, lawyers, probation officers, police officers and businessmen.
The allegation and names were contained in a affidavit sworn out by Ron Leroux, a
On the witness stand this week, Leroux told a stunned inquiry that he had no knowledge of a clan of pedophiles.
He said he didn't know how some of the names got into his sworn affidavit.
The story was a hoax. It came from a book, he said.
Leroux, in an emotional prepared statement, said he came to the inquiry because he wanted to set the record straight.
He also alleged that Perry Dunlop, the self-described only-honest-cop-in-the universe, along with his wife, Helen, and her brother, Carson Chisholm, had hounded him to no end.
Dunlop, using the pedophile clan story as a backdrop, carved out an image as a crusader trying to write wrong.
No doubt we'll hear from inquiry officials that while it is sad that the pedophile clan story has been denounced as fiction by the author, it wasn't the only reason the multi-million dollar exercise was launched.
Bullfeathers.
Without the pedophile clan story, there would be no inquiry.
The admission that it was a fraud shot the wheels off the inquiry bus.
The story was the engine that drove the inquiry's creation by Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Hate to tell you this
The tab, when the inquiry is finally put to bed late next year, will be in the millions . . . like maybe $40 million.
And for what?
A report by Judge Normand Glaude that will collect dust.
It won't change much when it comes to institutional response, because 1) most of the testimony is about how the institutions dealt with cases 20 or more years ago; and 2) much of the testimony by victims (as opposed to alleged victims) shows that in most cases police (city and OPP) response was more than reasonable.
The one area (and don't expect the judge to slam this one too hard) that hasn't changed is the way convicted sex offenders are punished. Many of the victims complained that their abusers received lenient sentences from judges.
What we should be having is a serious examination of the way a couple of law firms (a.k.a. ambulance chasers) handled affidavits.
The gentle rap on the knuckles administered by the kindly Glaude is not good enough.
The attorney general's office should also be looking at Glaude's decision to allow names of citizens who were never charged to be flung around by dubious alleged victims.
The decision created a second class of victims: people who had their reputations not just tarnished, but ruined.
It was a terrible decision, especially in light of Ron Leroux's courageous confession.
Some will disagree, but while Leroux is not the hero he wanted to become, he deserves credit for setting the record straight.
Glaude has bent over backward to make sure alleged victims were treated with kid gloves by the lawyers representing the institutions involved.
In one case, he allowed an alleged victim to shadow box with a lawyer trying to cross-examine him, then the next day scolded a lawyer for using adjectives he didn't think were proper.
The institutional lawyers were handcuffed from day one, but still managed to do a remarkable job.
The cross-examinations were, almost to a fault, gentle.
The lumbering inquiry will resume in August, and with the cross-examinations of Ron Leroux more veneer may be stripped off the conspiracy theory.
In the meantime, there are several people in this community who have lived through hell because of false allegations.
The inquiry has a healing mechanism for victims (and alleged victims) . . . and, of course, people who have had their lives shattered by bogus allegations.
Fine.
But perhaps Judge Glaude might like to tell the innocent folks whose names he allowed to be smeared in his courtroom where they can go to recover their reputations.
As one victim of the hoax, who says he has lived in hell for the last 10 years, said: "I've been ruined."
10 July 2007
MARGARET WENTE
Ever since the paper mill shut down, the blue-collar city of
The scandal has cast a shadow over
There have been at least three police investigations, each one dogged by cover-up allegations. The biggest of these, Project Truth, lasted four years and resulted in the conviction of just one person, a bus driver. None of the investigations found any evidence of a pedophile ring. In fact, the main victims of the sex ring were the innocent people who had been falsely accused.
Case closed? Not so fast. Local activists, litigation lawyers and a crusading MPP wouldn't let the story die. Finally, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a public inquiry to probe the scandal yet again.
What
And so the inquiry has become yet another platform for trashing the innocent. A parade of victims have taken the stand to name local policemen, businessmen and priests in the pedophile ring that refuses to die. The fact that these people have never been convicted of a thing doesn't seem to matter. On top of that, the commissioner has cautioned lawyers for the institutions to go easy on the witnesses, so they won't be retraumatized.
Dallas Lee, a lawyer who represents 48 of the alleged victims, says it's important to name names, because they might have been connected through the pedophile ring. "It's perpetrator A, B and C and the fact that they had coffee every Sunday morning together that we need to know about."
"Anybody can get up and say anything they want," says Claude McIntosh, a local journalist. He has been scathingly critical of the inquiry, whose costs, footed by the taxpayer, have mounted into the millions. Since it opened in February of 2006, the inquiry has become a gravy train for lawyers, social workers, psychologists, experts in child sex abuse, healers of all stripes. "It's a very expensive form of group therapy," Mr. McIntosh says. And there's no end in sight.
There are other problems. As the witnesses recall events of 30 years ago, memories tend to blur. Some of them name people who weren't around. And two weeks ago, as the inquiry was about to take its summer recess, one of the key witnesses described how he had been pressed by victim advocates to stick to his story - which he then proceeded to recant.
Mr. McIntosh figures the bills for investigating the imaginary pedophile ring must now total more than $30-million. That doesn't count the human cost, of course; the other day, someone who had been named at the inquiry phoned him to describe how he had been cut off by close friends because, they said, they were afraid for their nine-year-old son.
As for the out-of-town media, they've gone home. For many years, they milked this town for lurid headlines, but even they know the jig is up. The only headline they could write today would read: No pedophile ring in
Witness says police threatened to kill him over abuse allegations; Police internal letter says accusations 'unfounded'
Terri Saunders / Standard-Freeholder
Local News - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry said Monday two city police officers threatened to kill him if he kept making allegations of sexual abuse against two alleged perpetrators.
Kenneth-Keith Ouellette said he clearly recalls being taken to the headquarters of the Cornwall Community Police Service in the late 1970s or early 1980s and warned to stop talking about the abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a probation officer and an employment counselor.
"Two officers pushed a desk up against me and pinned me against the wall in an interview room," said Ouellette.
"They said if I ever opened my mouth again, I would have two bullets put in my brain."
Ouellette said the threats were made after he made claims he'd been abused by Ken Seguin, a city probation officer, and Richard Hickerson, an employment counselor believed to have been a former priest from Saskatchewan.
|
Ouellette said he also recalled a time prior to the incident at police headquarters when he was placed in a patrol car and driven to the area of the R. H. Saunders power dam.
He said the officer driving the car in which he was traveling met another officer at the dam and he overheard part of their conversation.
"One of the officers said, 'Should we just do him here?'" said Ouellette.
Police records provided to the inquiry show correspondence in early 2000 between an officer and the man who was police chief at the time.
Sgt. Brian Snyder wrote a letter to Chief Anthony Repa outlining Ouellette's allegations against members of the force about incidents which occurred years earlier.
The complaints had been investigated, Snyder indicated, including one against former Chief Claude Shaver.
Snyder indicates in the letter he had compiled evidence to show Shaver was not chief at the time Ouellette said he was threatened by the chief of police and also suggested there was no evidence or corroboration of Ouellette's claims he was picked up by officers at his residence and transported to the station where the alleged assault occurred.
"Based on the . . . evidence, my investigation has determined that Mr. Keith Ouellette's complaint against unknown members of the Cornwall Police Service is unfounded," Snyder wrote.
Ouellette, who is now 53 years old, says he was abused by his brother,
Ouellette said he got into trouble on occasion during his youth, sometimes for selling drugs or stealing money from church collection boxes, but there was an explanation for his behaviour.
"I came from a poor family and I was taking drugs to deal with having been abused," he said.
"I was misguided, I was troubled and I was young."
His journey through the court system would serve to introduce him to
Ouellette said
The inquiry continues today with more testimony from Ouellette.
Terri Saunders / Standard-Freeholder
Local News - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 @ 08:00
Long before Niagara MPP Peter Kormos stood in the legislature and demanded Premier Dalton McGuinty look into historical abuse of children in Cornwall, and years before local MPP Jim Brownell said he wished he'd been the one to ask that question, a former judge turned politician began calling on the province to pull this community out from under a cloud of rumour and innuendo.
In the fall of 1998, then-Ottawa-Rideau MPP Garry Guzzo wrote a letter to then-Premier Mike Harris asking his Tory government to examine the work being done by a group of Ontario Provincial Police officers as part of an investigation called Project Truth.
The team's mandate was to investigate allegations of historical child sexual abuse leveled at a group of Catholic priests by a number of complainants.
|
It wasn't the first time Guzzo had asked Harris to look into the "situation" in
Guzzo said he was concerned about how the investigation was being conducted and worried the police weren't getting all the facts.
Guzzo said, at the time, he was particularly disturbed by reports many of the individuals who had provided statements regarding alleged abuse to the offices of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. "I'm still convinced we're not hearing the whole story," Guzzo said in an interview with the Standard-Freeholder late last week.
"The truth is out there, but if a number of people aren't called to testify (at the Cornwall Public Inquiry) we may not get the whole story."
Guzzo has been following the inquiry since it began in February 2006.
After nearly a decade of publicly calling on the province and a number of police forces to investigate claims of systemic child abuse allegedly perpetrated by a group of prominent area men, the former attorney and judge says the inquiry has to do one thing if the community is ever to get to the bottom of the scandal.
"Those people who have been accused have to be called as witnesses," said Guzzo.
"In my opinion, if you're accused of something and you don't come forward to declare your innocence, you may be admitting what's being said is the truth."
In late June, a witness at the inquiry admitted he'd made up aspects of statements he's made in the past about prominent men alleged to have gathered together to collectively abuse children and cover each other's tracks as well as the nature of the abuse that was alleged to have occurred.
Guzzo said if it turns out some of the rumours which have floated around the community for decades aren't true, the inquiry will have served an important purpose. "All we said from the start is we wanted to get to the truth," he said.
"If this all has been a fraud, it will be helpful to get that out."
Man says he lied to former cop about abuse
Local News - Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Updated @ 2:29:38 PM
By Terri Saunders Standard-Freeholder Cornwall
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry admitted today he lied about
being molested by a city priest to please Perry Dunlop.
The man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, said he made up the details of allegations he'd been abused by Rev. Charles MacDonald because he felt "pressured" by the former city police officer.
"Perry Dunlop was the only friend I had," said the man. "He kept pushing me and pushing me and I felt had to give him something."
The man said he went to Dunlop in 1997 to talk about abuse he says he
suffered at the hands of two other men, former city teacher Marcel Lalonde
and Ron Leroux, a man who has testified at the inquiry he was abused by a
number of Catholic priests in the past.
Leroux has never been charged in relation to this man's allegations.
On Wednesday, the man said Dunlop put a lot of pressure on him to come up
with allegations against MacDonald.
"He kept bugging me, 'Do you remember anything? Come on, you've got to
remember something,'" said the man. "He was always on me even though I
told him I didn't remember anything."
The inquiry is continuing.
Inquiry told story made up
Terri Saunders
Local News - Thursday, August 23, 2007 @ 08:00
In 1997, a man walked into a police station and began detailing the sexual abuse he claimed he suffered at the hands of a city priest.
A decade later, the man admits he made up the story to please a rogue cop dedicated to putting the priest behind bars.
"I felt pressured," the man told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Wednesday.
"He kept pushing me and pushing me and I felt I had to give him something."
In 1996, the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, told then-city cop Perry Dunlop he was sexually abused by Rev. Charles MacDonald. At the time, the man said, he felt alone in his life and was desperate for a friend.
"Perry Dunlop was the only friend I had," said the man, who frequently broke down in tears during his testimony Wednesday. "He was the only person around and I felt like I was part of (his) family. I thought (if I didn't detail the alleged abuse) I would let him down."
The man, now 42 years old, was one of several complainants who testified at a 2000 trial following which former city elementary school teacher Marcel Lalonde was convicted of a number of sex-related offences.
|
|
Lalonde ultimately spent time behind bars for his crimes.
The man said he originally went to Dunlop in the hopes something would be done in relation to his allegations against Lalonde and another man, Ron Leroux, with whom the man lived for 10 years. In late June, Leroux also testified at the Cornwall Public Inquiry about abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a number of area priests. Leroux has denied the allegations made against him by this man.
"I kept talking about Marcel Lalonde and Ron Leroux, but his (Dunlop's) interest wasn't in that," said the man. "He kept bugging me (about MacDonald), 'Do you remember anything? Come on. You've got to remember something.'
"I felt I had to fabricate something."
One of the things the man would tell police in 1997 he "remembered" was a time when MacDonald attempted to sexually abuse him using a candle. In June, Leroux admitted stories he'd told in the past about having witnessed a group of prominent area men participating in a bizarre sexual ritual with young boys involving candles and robes were not true.
On Wednesday, the witness told the inquiry he was abused by Lalonde on a number of occasions, but not during school trips to
On Wednesday, the man stuck to that story.
"I felt I had to give him (Dunlop) something," said the man, who admitted he was worried if he didn't have enough evidence regarding the abuse by Lalonde the teacher might not be convicted. "I didn't want to see this guy get off."
The man said he was told by Dunlop and Carson Chisholm, Dunlop's brother-in-law, there would be more money at stake in a civil suit if the abuse happened on a school-sanctioned trip because then he could sue the school board.
"Carson Chisholm . . . said, 'We've got to get the sons of bitches,'" the man said Wednesday. "Those were his words."
The man said he felt as if Dunlop and Chisholm were on his side and that's part of the reason why he was willing to fabricate elements of his story.
"I trusted in somebody I thought I could trust," said the man.
Although he now says he has no recollection of ever having been abused by MacDonald, he does recall seeing the priest among a group of other men who had also been accused of sexually assaulting young boys, including Ken Seguin, a now-deceased probation officer, and Malcolm MacDonald, a former Crown attorney who died in Florida several years ago.
"Were they ever engaged in any sort of sexual activity with these boys?" asked Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"I have no idea," the man said.
The inquiry continues today.
Pain of abuse resurfaces
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, August 24, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday he thought he'd put the abuse he'd suffered a young man behind him until he was forced to testify before the commission.
"I thought I was okay until this came up again," said the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban. "I'm just trying to put all this behind me."
The man was a complainant in a 2000 trial when a city school teacher was convicted of sexually abusing a number of young boys. The man has also claimed he was sexually abused by Ron Leroux, a man who has testified at that inquiry as a victim of alleged sexual abuse. Leroux has denied the allegations leveled against him by this man.
The witness has also admitted stories he told in the past about having been abused by a city priest were fabricated in order to please Perry Dunlop, a former city cop who led a crusade against alleged child molesters in the 1990s in
|
|
The following are newspaper articles from the
Witness admits he lied for revenge
The man told the inquiry he did not want to participate in hearings, but did comply with a subpoena to appear issued by the commission.
"I just wanted to go on with my life; I'd had enough," said the man. "And then the next thing you know, I get a subpoena."
Also on Thursday, the man talked about how he was easily led by Dunlop into fabricating elements of his story, including allegations he'd been sexually molested by Rev. Charles MacDonald and that Marcel Lalonde, a former teacher at a city elementary school, had abused him while they were in
The man told the inquiry the truth is he can't ever recall being abused by MacDonald and he has repeatedly admitted in the years since Lalonde's trial no abuse ever occurred during a school-sanctioned outing.
The man said he was coerced by Dunlop and the former cop's brother-in-law, Carson Chisholm, to say Lalonde abused him on school trips because then he could sue the school board.
The man said after he came clean about that fabrication, the relationship with Dunlop and his wife, Helen, rapidly deteriorated. The man told police in October 2000 about a telephone conversation he'd had with Helen Dunlop.
"She said, 'What are you doing? I thought we were friends?'" the man told police. "I'm like, 'Yeah, you are, Helen.'"
The man said Helen Dunlop then suggested in no uncertain terms the original story was the truth.
"'What the hell are you lying for?'" the man told police Dunlop had said to him. "I said, 'No, I'm not lying, Helen.'
"She says, 'Well, I hope you can sleep good at night.' And then she said goodbye. I'm surprised she even said, 'Bye.'"
During cross-examination, an attorney for the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese suggested the man was easily persuaded by both Dunlop and Leroux.
"Dunlop was an authority figure in your life, a person of weight and stature, and someone who was important in your life," said David Sherriff-Scott.
"Yes," said the man. "Back you up to the wall, they said."
"He made you feel like you were a champion of justice," said Sherriff-Scott, "just like him."
"Yes," said the man. "He was protecting little kids."
Terri Saunders
Local News - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry admitted Tuesday that as an act of revenge he lied about having observed prominent area men participating in sexual rituals.
Ron Leroux told the commission he didn't actually see the men engaged in any rituals, despite the fact several statements signed by him in the past included comments about having seen the acts performed first hand.
"I was angry for being molested," Leroux said. "I wanted to get back at them somehow."
A number of documents entered as exhibits at the inquiry Tuesday contain statements attributed to Leroux in which he recalls having observed a "clan" of pedophiles engaged in ritualistic acts involving young boys at a cottage on Cameron's Point in the late 1950s or early 1960s.
Several of the statements were taken by former city cop Perry Dunlop in the 1990s.
"(In one statement) you say the image is pretty vivid in your mind, that you can remember that like it was yesterday," said Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"That's a lie or something," said Leroux.
"You didn't see a ritual?" asked Engelmann.
"No," said Leroux. "That's not something I saw. It was something that was told to me by a man around my age who was working at a city clothing store. I told the story to Dunlop and he put it in there." Leroux admitted he signed the statements without reading them to ensure the contents were accurate.
"Why would you do that?" asked Engelmann.
"I don't know," said Leroux. "I just wanted to get this over with. I didn't want to have anything to do with that man (Dunlop)."
Leroux also told the commission many of the things attributed to him in statements taken by Dunlop just weren't true.
In one statement, Leroux apparently tells Dunlop he was sexually assaulted by three members of the clergy - Rev. Bernard Cameron, Rev. Donald McDougald and former Bishop Eugene LaRocque. The allegations were investigated by police and no charges were ever laid against any of the three men in relation to Leroux's allegations.
On Tuesday, Leroux said when he told his father about alleged assaults which occurred at the hands of Cameron and McDougald in a school confessional, his father immediately went to see church officials and a police officer about what his son had told him.
But in statements given to Dunlop, Leroux apparently says he told both his parents about the alleged abuse and wasn't believed.
"I told my parents . . . and . . . my father said they were men of the cloth; they wouldn't do that," Leroux is alleged to have told Dunlop.
During testimony, Leroux said he never disclosed the abuse in the way it's depicted in the Dunlop statement.
"That's not true," he said. "I would never have talked to my mother about that."
When asked why the Dunlop statements read the way they do, Leroux had just one explanation.
"I did anything (Dunlop) told me to do," said Leroux. "There are discrepancies in a lot of (these statements). If I said anything about it, he (Dunlop) would say, 'Don't worry about it.'
"I had been through a lot. I was muddled up. This guy was hounding me and then he sics a lawyer on me. You do what you're told."
Engelmann continually pointed out the fact many of the things Leroux said in the past differ from what he said on the witness stand Tuesday.
"That's why I'm here," said Leroux, who also claimed he was constantly coerced into making statements. "I want the truth out there. I've had enough of it."
The inquiry continues today with more of Leroux's testimony.
|
Witness says abuse has left him a 'loner'
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 08:00
Ron Leroux said the sexual abuse he allegedly suffered as a young person has greatly damaged his ability to lead a normal life.
Leroux told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday he can't trust anyone in authority and harbours animosity towards many public institutions.
"(I have) a loss of trust in the church, a loss of trust in police, a loss of trust of people in authority," said Leroux. "I have anger towards public institutions for doing nothing."
Leroux has admitted while on the stand at the inquiry he made false statements about prominent men having sexually assaulted young boys and wishes he could go back in time to do things differently.
"I take responsibility for my actions," he said. "If I could change the past, I would, but I can't. I'm doing this to set the record straight today."
Leroux said he has always felt alone, feels as if he lost his childhood and chances for an education and claims to live in isolation, referring to himself as "a loner."
He said he felt used and manipulated by former city cop Perry Dunlop when it came to providing Dunlop with statements about child sexual abuse he had claimed to have either witnessed or had some knowledge about.
"I felt pressured by Perry Dunlop to help him," said Leroux. "I tried to resist at first, but he kept at me. (He) told me I was important."
Leroux said while there was a time when he trusted Dunlop and was willing to join him in a crusade to "protect children," he now feels as if he has been left behind by the former cop.
"I feel abandoned," said Leroux. "He left me alone to face this mess."
Lead commission counsel Peter Engelmann suggested to Leroux Thursday he has never personally witnessed any criminal acts being carried out by a group of prominent area men against children.
"You didn't have any knowledge of any of these men being engaged in sexual improprieties with people under the age of 18," Engelmann said.
"That's correct," said Leroux.
"You know it can cause harm to person to be described as a pedophile," said Engelmann.
"Yes," said Leroux.
The inquiry continues today when it's expected the commission will view videotapes and listen to audiotapes of statements Leroux has given in the past to Dunlop and police investigators.
v
Alcohol consumed during meetings with former cop Dunlop: Leroux
Terri Saunders / Standard-Freeholder
Local News - Thursday, June 28, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry admitted Wednesday alcohol was often part of the equation during meetings he had with a former city cop and a lawyer in the 1990s.
Ron Leroux said there were many times when he, Perry Dunlop and Charles Bourgeois would consume alcohol either before or after drafting statements related to Leroux's allegations of abuse at the hands of several priests.
"I had to put him in a taxi a few times," said Leroux, referring to Bourgeois, a lawyer who was acting for Dunlop at the time on a civil action the former cop had launched against the Cornwall Community Police Force.
"Were you drunk at some of these meetings?" asked Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"Possibly," said Leroux.
"Were they?" said Engelmann, referring to Dunlop and Bourgeois.
"They were feeling good," said Leroux, who recalled leaving a hotel room once with the two men and spending some time in the hotel's lounge drinking before returning to the room to draft a statement. "We'd go to the bar, sit around, talk, have a few and go back up."
Leroux went so far as to suggest Bourgeois was significantly inebriated at times and needed assistance with simple tasks such as walking.
"I helped him down the stairs at three in the morning many times," said Leroux, "because he couldn't stand up."
Leroux said Dunlop expressed concern for his own safety in the years after he was charged under the police services act with discreditable conduct. A board of inquiry later acquitted Dunlop of those charges.
"He (Dunlop) said everybody on the force hates me," Leroux said Wednesday. "He said, 'I gotta watch my back.'
He said, 'I don't get any backup when I'm working.'"
Leroux said he recalled a time when he visited Dunlop and was shocked by what he saw.
"He could barely walk," said Leroux. "He said he'd gotten beat up." Leroux said Dunlop seemed to be focused mainly on alleged perpetrators being punished.
"He said, 'We're gonna kick in some doors down there (in
Leroux said he supported Dunlop's efforts.
"I thought, 'That's something I've wanted to do since 1956,'" said Leroux. "And he was going to do it."
The inquiry adjourned early Wednesday afternoon after Leroux told commission officials he needed to rest.
The hearings are expected to resume today at 9:30 a.m.
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday said the wife of a former city cop asked him to stick to his story when testifying before the commission.
Ron Leroux said Helen Dunlop, wife of former city cop Perry Dunlop, told him during a telephone conversation sometime in the past year he should testify at the inquiry and that he should not stray from the things he's said in the past.
"She asked how I was doing and she asked if I was going to testify," said Leroux. "She told me not change
my story."
|
Photo: -
|
Clan claims are crumbling
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 08:00
A list of names of area men purported to comprise a clan of pedophiles began to crumble like a falling house of cards at the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday.
Ron Leroux told the commission several of the names on a list of priests, police officers, lawyers and businessmen he has often claimed in the past he saw in a variety of locations in various groupings and whom he claimed to have witnessed sexually assaulting young boys don't belong there.
"That's why I'm here today - to set the record straight," said Leroux. "I'm taking the blame for some of this mess."
Outside the hearing, a lawyer for the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese said Leroux's testimony is proof many of the pillars upon which rumours of a clan of pedophiles having operated in the city for years have no foundation.
David Sherriff-Scott said the community has long been held captive by the existence of this list of prominent people alleged to be pedophiles, claims these men gathered together to both abuse young children and "control" the situation and Leroux's allegations he'd witnessed the "spectre of dark, ritual abuse" of young boys.
"(These) are three things that have gripped the collective conscience of this community," said David Sherriff-Scott. "These things have now been shown to be false and this is extraordinary . . . for the community."
Many of the names Leroux said don't belong on the list are those of area priests the man has claimed in the past he saw in the company of Ken Seguin, a deceased probation officer or Malcolm MacDonald, a deceased Crown attorney.
Both
Leroux also testified he never used the phrase "clan of pedophiles" and couldn't understand why it would appear in affidavits he's signed in the past.
"Those words - 'clan of pedophiles' - those words didn't come from me," said Leroux. "I didn't orchestrate this."
During testimony Wednesday, Leroux suggested former city cop Perry Dunlop and his lawyer, Charles Bourgeois, added comments to Leroux's statements without his knowledge.
On Thursday, Leroux conceded he may have actually provided the two men with the information contained in the statements.
"I might have told them I saw it," said Leroux, referring to statements he's alleged to have made in the past about having witnessed a group of prominent men performing bizarre sexual rituals involving young boys.
Leroux also confirmed he went on to repeat the statements to investigators and never once told them portions were inaccurate.
"You knew that making allegations (against) people without any evidence could have caused these people great harm," said Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"That's correct," said Leroux.
"Why did you do that?" asked Engelmann.
"I had a lawyer with me," said Leroux, referring to Bourgeois. "He said, 'Just read it. Just do it.'"
Sherriff-Scott said many of the priests whose names appeared on the list have been following the inquiry to some extent. He said he believes they have been somewhat exonerated by Leroux's testimony after having spent years living under a dark cloud and having been labeled as pedophiles.
"They are concerned, not just about themselves, but about the community," he said. "I'm sure upon hearing this today they will be very relieved."
False allegations have hurt innocent people
McIntosh, Claude
Local News - Saturday, June 30, 2007 @ 08:00
Back in the 1960s a young woman went missing in
Somehow a psychic in
A manhunt was organized by the local radio station.
Hundreds of people scoured the city in search of a body.
The next day the truth was disclosed: it was a hoax.
The young lady had run off with her boyfriend.
Today, the city is dealing with an even bigger hoax . . . the biggest and most damaging hoax ever inflicted on this community.
It is also arguably the most expensive hoax the country has known.
We speak of the Cornwall Public Inquiry and its investigation into allegations that a clan of pedophiles, made up of mostly prominent citizens, operated with impunity.
According to the wicked tale, orgies were held in and around the city and involved young boys.
Some of these sadistic rituals had the young, naked boys paraded around in white sheets with candles inserted in their rectums.
The clan list, it was claimed, contained the names of priests, lawyers, probation officers, police officers and businessmen.
The allegation and names were contained in a affidavit sworn out by Ron Leroux, a
On the witness stand this week, Leroux told a stunned inquiry that he had no knowledge of a clan of pedophiles.
He said he didn't know how some of the names got into his sworn affidavit.
The story was a hoax. It came from a book, he said.
Leroux, in an emotional prepared statement, said he came to the inquiry because he wanted to set the record straight.
He also alleged that Perry Dunlop, the self-described only-honest-cop-in-the universe, along with his wife, Helen, and her brother, Carson Chisholm, had hounded him to no end.
Dunlop, using the pedophile clan story as a backdrop, carved out an image as a crusader trying to write wrong.
No doubt we'll hear from inquiry officials that while it is sad that the pedophile clan story has been denounced as fiction by the author, it wasn't the only reason the multi-million dollar exercise was launched.
Bullfeathers.
Without the pedophile clan story, there would be no inquiry.
The admission that it was a fraud shot the wheels off the inquiry bus.
The story was the engine that drove the inquiry's creation by Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Hate to tell you this
The tab, when the inquiry is finally put to bed late next year, will be in the millions . . . like maybe $40 million.
And for what?
A report by Judge Normand Glaude that will collect dust.
It won't change much when it comes to institutional response, because 1) most of the testimony is about how the institutions dealt with cases 20 or more years ago; and 2) much of the testimony by victims (as opposed to alleged victims) shows that in most cases police (city and OPP) response was more than reasonable.
The one area (and don't expect the judge to slam this one too hard) that hasn't changed is the way convicted sex offenders are punished. Many of the victims complained that their abusers received lenient sentences from judges.
What we should be having is a serious examination of the way a couple of law firms (a.k.a. ambulance chasers) handled affidavits.
The gentle rap on the knuckles administered by the kindly Glaude is not good enough.
The attorney general's office should also be looking at Glaude's decision to allow names of citizens who were never charged to be flung around by dubious alleged victims.
The decision created a second class of victims: people who had their reputations not just tarnished, but ruined.
It was a terrible decision, especially in light of Ron Leroux's courageous confession.
Some will disagree, but while Leroux is not the hero he wanted to become, he deserves credit for setting the record straight.
Glaude has bent over backward to make sure alleged victims were treated with kid gloves by the lawyers representing the institutions involved.
In one case, he allowed an alleged victim to shadow box with a lawyer trying to cross-examine him, then the next day scolded a lawyer for using adjectives he didn't think were proper.
The institutional lawyers were handcuffed from day one, but still managed to do a remarkable job.
The cross-examinations were, almost to a fault, gentle.
The lumbering inquiry will resume in August, and with the cross-examinations of Ron Leroux more veneer may be stripped off the conspiracy theory.
In the meantime, there are several people in this community who have lived through hell because of false allegations.
The inquiry has a healing mechanism for victims (and alleged victims) . . . and, of course, people who have had their lives shattered by bogus allegations.
Fine.
But perhaps Judge Glaude might like to tell the innocent folks whose names he allowed to be smeared in his courtroom where they can go to recover their reputations.
As one victim of the hoax, who says he has lived in hell for the last 10 years, said: "I've been ruined."
10 July 2007
MARGARET WENTE
Ever since the paper mill shut down, the blue-collar city of
The scandal has cast a shadow over
There have been at least three police investigations, each one dogged by cover-up allegations. The biggest of these, Project Truth, lasted four years and resulted in the conviction of just one person, a bus driver. None of the investigations found any evidence of a pedophile ring. In fact, the main victims of the sex ring were the innocent people who had been falsely accused.
Case closed? Not so fast. Local activists, litigation lawyers and a crusading MPP wouldn't let the story die. Finally, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a public inquiry to probe the scandal yet again.
What
And so the inquiry has become yet another platform for trashing the innocent. A parade of victims have taken the stand to name local policemen, businessmen and priests in the pedophile ring that refuses to die. The fact that these people have never been convicted of a thing doesn't seem to matter. On top of that, the commissioner has cautioned lawyers for the institutions to go easy on the witnesses, so they won't be retraumatized.
Dallas Lee, a lawyer who represents 48 of the alleged victims, says it's important to name names, because they might have been connected through the pedophile ring. "It's perpetrator A, B and C and the fact that they had coffee every Sunday morning together that we need to know about."
"Anybody can get up and say anything they want," says Claude McIntosh, a local journalist. He has been scathingly critical of the inquiry, whose costs, footed by the taxpayer, have mounted into the millions. Since it opened in February of 2006, the inquiry has become a gravy train for lawyers, social workers, psychologists, experts in child sex abuse, healers of all stripes. "It's a very expensive form of group therapy," Mr. McIntosh says. And there's no end in sight.
There are other problems. As the witnesses recall events of 30 years ago, memories tend to blur. Some of them name people who weren't around. And two weeks ago, as the inquiry was about to take its summer recess, one of the key witnesses described how he had been pressed by victim advocates to stick to his story - which he then proceeded to recant.
Mr. McIntosh figures the bills for investigating the imaginary pedophile ring must now total more than $30-million. That doesn't count the human cost, of course; the other day, someone who had been named at the inquiry phoned him to describe how he had been cut off by close friends because, they said, they were afraid for their nine-year-old son.
As for the out-of-town media, they've gone home. For many years, they milked this town for lurid headlines, but even they know the jig is up. The only headline they could write today would read: No pedophile ring in
Witness says police threatened to kill him over abuse allegations; Police internal letter says accusations 'unfounded'
Terri Saunders / Standard-Freeholder
Local News - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry said Monday two city police officers threatened to kill him if he kept making allegations of sexual abuse against two alleged perpetrators.
Kenneth-Keith Ouellette said he clearly recalls being taken to the headquarters of the Cornwall Community Police Service in the late 1970s or early 1980s and warned to stop talking about the abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a probation officer and an employment counselor.
"Two officers pushed a desk up against me and pinned me against the wall in an interview room," said Ouellette.
"They said if I ever opened my mouth again, I would have two bullets put in my brain."
Ouellette said the threats were made after he made claims he'd been abused by Ken Seguin, a city probation officer, and Richard Hickerson, an employment counselor believed to have been a former priest from Saskatchewan.
|
Ouellette said he also recalled a time prior to the incident at police headquarters when he was placed in a patrol car and driven to the area of the R. H. Saunders power dam.
He said the officer driving the car in which he was traveling met another officer at the dam and he overheard part of their conversation.
"One of the officers said, 'Should we just do him here?'" said Ouellette.
Police records provided to the inquiry show correspondence in early 2000 between an officer and the man who was police chief at the time.
Sgt. Brian Snyder wrote a letter to Chief Anthony Repa outlining Ouellette's allegations against members of the force about incidents which occurred years earlier.
The complaints had been investigated, Snyder indicated, including one against former Chief Claude Shaver.
Snyder indicates in the letter he had compiled evidence to show Shaver was not chief at the time Ouellette said he was threatened by the chief of police and also suggested there was no evidence or corroboration of Ouellette's claims he was picked up by officers at his residence and transported to the station where the alleged assault occurred.
"Based on the . . . evidence, my investigation has determined that Mr. Keith Ouellette's complaint against unknown members of the Cornwall Police Service is unfounded," Snyder wrote.
Ouellette, who is now 53 years old, says he was abused by his brother,
Ouellette said he got into trouble on occasion during his youth, sometimes for selling drugs or stealing money from church collection boxes, but there was an explanation for his behaviour.
"I came from a poor family and I was taking drugs to deal with having been abused," he said.
"I was misguided, I was troubled and I was young."
His journey through the court system would serve to introduce him to
Ouellette said
The inquiry continues today with more testimony from Ouellette.
Terri Saunders / Standard-Freeholder
Local News - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 @ 08:00
Long before Niagara MPP Peter Kormos stood in the legislature and demanded Premier Dalton McGuinty look into historical abuse of children in Cornwall, and years before local MPP Jim Brownell said he wished he'd been the one to ask that question, a former judge turned politician began calling on the province to pull this community out from under a cloud of rumour and innuendo.
In the fall of 1998, then-Ottawa-Rideau MPP Garry Guzzo wrote a letter to then-Premier Mike Harris asking his Tory government to examine the work being done by a group of Ontario Provincial Police officers as part of an investigation called Project Truth.
The team's mandate was to investigate allegations of historical child sexual abuse leveled at a group of Catholic priests by a number of complainants.
|
It wasn't the first time Guzzo had asked Harris to look into the "situation" in
Guzzo said he was concerned about how the investigation was being conducted and worried the police weren't getting all the facts.
Guzzo said, at the time, he was particularly disturbed by reports many of the individuals who had provided statements regarding alleged abuse to the offices of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. "I'm still convinced we're not hearing the whole story," Guzzo said in an interview with the Standard-Freeholder late last week.
"The truth is out there, but if a number of people aren't called to testify (at the Cornwall Public Inquiry) we may not get the whole story."
Guzzo has been following the inquiry since it began in February 2006.
After nearly a decade of publicly calling on the province and a number of police forces to investigate claims of systemic child abuse allegedly perpetrated by a group of prominent area men, the former attorney and judge says the inquiry has to do one thing if the community is ever to get to the bottom of the scandal.
"Those people who have been accused have to be called as witnesses," said Guzzo.
"In my opinion, if you're accused of something and you don't come forward to declare your innocence, you may be admitting what's being said is the truth."
In late June, a witness at the inquiry admitted he'd made up aspects of statements he's made in the past about prominent men alleged to have gathered together to collectively abuse children and cover each other's tracks as well as the nature of the abuse that was alleged to have occurred.
Guzzo said if it turns out some of the rumours which have floated around the community for decades aren't true, the inquiry will have served an important purpose. "All we said from the start is we wanted to get to the truth," he said.
"If this all has been a fraud, it will be helpful to get that out."
Man says he lied to former cop about abuse
Local News - Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Updated @ 2:29:38 PM
By Terri Saunders Standard-Freeholder Cornwall
A witness at the Cornwall Public Inquiry admitted today he lied about
being molested by a city priest to please Perry Dunlop.
The man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, said he made up the details of allegations he'd been abused by Rev. Charles MacDonald because he felt "pressured" by the former city police officer.
"Perry Dunlop was the only friend I had," said the man. "He kept pushing me and pushing me and I felt had to give him something."
The man said he went to Dunlop in 1997 to talk about abuse he says he
suffered at the hands of two other men, former city teacher Marcel Lalonde
and Ron Leroux, a man who has testified at the inquiry he was abused by a
number of Catholic priests in the past.
Leroux has never been charged in relation to this man's allegations.
On Wednesday, the man said Dunlop put a lot of pressure on him to come up
with allegations against MacDonald.
"He kept bugging me, 'Do you remember anything? Come on, you've got to
remember something,'" said the man. "He was always on me even though I
told him I didn't remember anything."
The inquiry is continuing.
Inquiry told story made up
Terri Saunders
Local News - Thursday, August 23, 2007 @ 08:00
In 1997, a man walked into a police station and began detailing the sexual abuse he claimed he suffered at the hands of a city priest.
A decade later, the man admits he made up the story to please a rogue cop dedicated to putting the priest behind bars.
"I felt pressured," the man told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Wednesday.
"He kept pushing me and pushing me and I felt I had to give him something."
In 1996, the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, told then-city cop Perry Dunlop he was sexually abused by Rev. Charles MacDonald. At the time, the man said, he felt alone in his life and was desperate for a friend.
"Perry Dunlop was the only friend I had," said the man, who frequently broke down in tears during his testimony Wednesday. "He was the only person around and I felt like I was part of (his) family. I thought (if I didn't detail the alleged abuse) I would let him down."
The man, now 42 years old, was one of several complainants who testified at a 2000 trial following which former city elementary school teacher Marcel Lalonde was convicted of a number of sex-related offences.
|
|
Lalonde ultimately spent time behind bars for his crimes.
The man said he originally went to Dunlop in the hopes something would be done in relation to his allegations against Lalonde and another man, Ron Leroux, with whom the man lived for 10 years. In late June, Leroux also testified at the Cornwall Public Inquiry about abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a number of area priests. Leroux has denied the allegations made against him by this man.
"I kept talking about Marcel Lalonde and Ron Leroux, but his (Dunlop's) interest wasn't in that," said the man. "He kept bugging me (about MacDonald), 'Do you remember anything? Come on. You've got to remember something.'
"I felt I had to fabricate something."
One of the things the man would tell police in 1997 he "remembered" was a time when MacDonald attempted to sexually abuse him using a candle. In June, Leroux admitted stories he'd told in the past about having witnessed a group of prominent area men participating in a bizarre sexual ritual with young boys involving candles and robes were not true.
On Wednesday, the witness told the inquiry he was abused by Lalonde on a number of occasions, but not during school trips to
On Wednesday, the man stuck to that story.
"I felt I had to give him (Dunlop) something," said the man, who admitted he was worried if he didn't have enough evidence regarding the abuse by Lalonde the teacher might not be convicted. "I didn't want to see this guy get off."
The man said he was told by Dunlop and Carson Chisholm, Dunlop's brother-in-law, there would be more money at stake in a civil suit if the abuse happened on a school-sanctioned trip because then he could sue the school board.
"Carson Chisholm . . . said, 'We've got to get the sons of bitches,'" the man said Wednesday. "Those were his words."
The man said he felt as if Dunlop and Chisholm were on his side and that's part of the reason why he was willing to fabricate elements of his story.
"I trusted in somebody I thought I could trust," said the man.
Although he now says he has no recollection of ever having been abused by MacDonald, he does recall seeing the priest among a group of other men who had also been accused of sexually assaulting young boys, including Ken Seguin, a now-deceased probation officer, and Malcolm MacDonald, a former Crown attorney who died in Florida several years ago.
"Were they ever engaged in any sort of sexual activity with these boys?" asked Peter Engelmann, lead commission counsel.
"I have no idea," the man said.
The inquiry continues today.
Pain of abuse resurfaces
Terri Saunders
Local News - Friday, August 24, 2007 @ 08:00
A witness told the Cornwall Public Inquiry Thursday he thought he'd put the abuse he'd suffered a young man behind him until he was forced to testify before the commission.
"I thought I was okay until this came up again," said the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban. "I'm just trying to put all this behind me."
The man was a complainant in a 2000 trial when a city school teacher was convicted of sexually abusing a number of young boys. The man has also claimed he was sexually abused by Ron Leroux, a man who has testified at that inquiry as a victim of alleged sexual abuse. Leroux has denied the allegations leveled against him by this man.
The witness has also admitted stories he told in the past about having been abused by a city priest were fabricated in order to please Perry Dunlop, a former city cop who led a crusade against alleged child molesters in the 1990s in
|
|
The man told the inquiry he did not want to participate in hearings, but did comply with a subpoena to appear issued by the commission.
"I just wanted to go on with my life; I'd had enough," said the man. "And then the next thing you know, I get a subpoena."
Also on Thursday, the man talked about how he was easily led by Dunlop into fabricating elements of his story, including allegations he'd been sexually molested by Rev. Charles MacDonald and that Marcel Lalonde, a former teacher at a city elementary school, had abused him while they were in
The man told the inquiry the truth is he can't ever recall being abused by MacDonald and he has repeatedly admitted in the years since Lalonde's trial no abuse ever occurred during a school-sanctioned outing.
The man said he was coerced by Dunlop and the former cop's brother-in-law, Carson Chisholm, to say Lalonde abused him on school trips because then he could sue the school board.
The man said after he came clean about that fabrication, the relationship with Dunlop and his wife, Helen, rapidly deteriorated. The man told police in October 2000 about a telephone conversation he'd had with Helen Dunlop.
"She said, 'What are you doing? I thought we were friends?'" the man told police. "I'm like, 'Yeah, you are, Helen.'"
The man said Helen Dunlop then suggested in no uncertain terms the original story was the truth.
"'What the hell are you lying for?'" the man told police Dunlop had said to him. "I said, 'No, I'm not lying, Helen.'
"She says, 'Well, I hope you can sleep good at night.' And then she said goodbye. I'm surprised she even said, 'Bye.'"
During cross-examination, an attorney for the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese suggested the man was easily persuaded by both Dunlop and Leroux.
"Dunlop was an authority figure in your life, a person of weight and stature, and someone who was important in your life," said David Sherriff-Scott.
"Yes," said the man. "Back you up to the wall, they said."
"He made you feel like you were a champion of justice," said Sherriff-Scott, "just like him."
The inquiry will resume Monday.
Summary of newspaer accounts and testimony at the inquiry.