BishopAccountability.org
	Cop to Skip Truth Inquiry? By Terri Saunders Sun Media August 28, 2007 http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2007/08/28/4452240.html CORNWALL — A former city police officer who has not replied to requests to participate in an inquiry probing the institutional response to allegations of systemic sexual abuse in the Cornwall area will be represented by a lawyer. Frank Horn told Commissioner Normand Glaude on Monday he would be representing the interests of Perry Dunlop at the inquiry. "Will he (Dunlop) come and give us his side of the story?" asked Glaude. "I don't know," said Horn. "He has been subpoenaed." Dunlop, who now lives in British Columbia, has become a central figure to the inquiry. His name has come up numerous times in relation to allegations of sexual abuse involving high profile members of the community and he led a personal crusade to uncover the truth behind the allegations. In recent days, a witness at the inquiry has suggested he fabricated portions of his past abuse allegations at the urging of both Dunlop and his brother-in-law Carson Chisholm, spokesman for the Coalition for Action on Child Sexual Abuse. Glaude asked Horn to return Thursday afternoon with a list of the group's members, information supporting Chisholm's application for funding and the group's position on why it should be granted standing. The inquiry heard Monday that two men who know very little of one another have remarkably similar stories about being abused by a city priest. David Silmser told police in the early 1990s he'd been abused by Rev. Charles MacDonald while the two were seated alone on a bench in St. Columban's Church. Silmser said the priest had told him he was doing a good job as an altar boy before he began touching his private parts. Years later, while being interviewed by police officers about similar allegations, another man talked about having been abused by MacDonald in the same place and under the same sort of circumstances. MacDonald has vehemently denied all allegations of abuse and in 2002 criminal charges against him were stayed when a judge determined it had taken too long to bring his matter to trial. Silmser, who testified at the inquiry in the early part of this year, has maintained his story is the truth. But the other man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, has told the inquiry he was never abused by MacDonald and made up the story to appease Dunlop. "It's very weird," said the man Monday on being shown how similar the two stories are. "It's almost like Perry took that part of my statement and gave it to someone else." The man said he doesn't really know Silmser, having only heard his name on occasion. City police attorney John Callaghan pointed out the fact Silmser's statement would have been provided to investigators years before the current witness ever mentioned the allegations to anyone. The man has said he fabricated portions of the stories he told investigators in past because he felt pressured by Dunlop to provide some evidence MacDonald had abused him. "Perry Dunlop was a great guy who wanted to protect kids and I didn't want to hurt the guy; he's done a lot of good," the man said. "Sometimes I wish I would have never called anybody or said anything."
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