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	Prosecutor Urges Unified Voice Chatham-Kent Crown Attorney Paul Bailey Appeals to Catholic Bishops for Unity By Jane Sims London Free Press [Canada] January 24, 2007 http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2007/01/24/3437921-sun.html The prosecutor and the abusive priest saw each other the last time at a London jail just to talk. Chatham-Kent Crown attorney Paul Bailey needed to know more about why Rev. Charles Sylvestre abused little girls. Sylvestre agreed to meet him at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre shortly before he was shipped to Kingston to start his prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in Chatham to indecently assaulting 47 girls. Bailey, who has come out in strong support of the London diocese's efforts to stop sexual abuse, told Sylvestre he "was interested in his views about how we can prevent this abuse from happening in the future." He heard the ramblings of a pedophile who blamed his victims and accused them of being conspirators. It was their fault, he told Bailey. "He minimized his own involvement, he blamed others and he lacked insight into the psychological carnage he had caused." Pedophilia is not "a mere moral fault" as the church treated Sylvestre's sexual deviancy, but a distinct psychological condition, Bailey said. "If you handle a pedophile that way, all you are doing is serving up more children for destruction," he said yesterday. Bailey described his conversation with Sylvestre at a church-sponsored sexual abuse workshop and will be in London next week. He is working tirelessly with others -- including Bishop Ronald Fabbro -- to talk about prevention of clergy sexual abuse of minors. In the wake of Sylvestre's death Monday, Bailey applauded Fabbro's efforts, but called on the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops to make a public show of support. Though Fabbro has said some bishops have expressed their support of his efforts, Bailey said there needs to be a unified voice. "Why not come out publicly and say that we support the very goals Bishop Fabbro supports? We support openness, honesty and transparency as he does. "There is no reason that I can discern that they wouldn't be standing shoulder to shoulder to him, reassuring the victims that as an organization they are all committed to ensuring this never happens again." The conference has said Canadian bishops are autonomous. Bailey said victims have "a real and pressing need" to hear from all the bishops. Sylvestre's death does not mark a waning of momentum in the collective goal of stopping sexual abuse, Bailey said. "We cannot allow this to happen again." CHRONOLOGY 1952-1989: Rev. Charles Sylvestre serves as parish priest in Roman Catholic churches in London, Chatham, Pain Court, Sarnia and Windsor. 1989: The London diocese learns of allegations of sexual abuse against Sylvestre. He is sent for alcohol counselling, but is allowed to continue to preach. 1993: Another allegation surfaces and Sylvestre is forced to retire. July 21, 2005: Sylvestre, 82, is arrested and charged with five sexual assault counts against three girls between the ages of 10 and 13 when he was a priest at St. Ursula's in Chatham. August 2005: More complaints flood into police, some from women in Sarnia dating back to the 1950s, after the original charges are announced by Chatham police. Nov. 14, 2005: Sylvestre, now 83, arrested in his Belle River home after women complain of sexual harassment. He now faces 36 charges of abuse, dating back to 1954. January 2006: More charges are added, bringing to more than 40 the total number since Sylvestre was charged with historical sexual abuse offences against more than 35 women between 1954 and 1985. Aug. 3, 2006: Sylvestre pleads guilty to 47 counts of indecent assault against 47 sexual abuse victims. The charges are against girls ages nine to 14 dating back to 1952. Twenty-one women describe the abuse they suffered at the priest's hands during their childhood. That day, London Bishop Ronald Fabbro issues an apology "for the failure of the church to protect the victims and their families from (Father) Sylvestre." Aug. 6, 2006: Fabbro apologizes again, this time at St. Ursula's parish, with some of Sylvestre's victims present, and vows to campaign to have the convicted priest defrocked. Sept. 22: The last 26 women are to read their victim-impact statements, but the judge orders a halt to the trial to get a psychiatric assessment of the now 84-year-old retired priest to see if his trial can go forward. Oct. 6: Sylvestre is sentenced to three years in prison after a psychiatric assessment finds him fit -- he asks forgiveness from his victims before sentencing. Dec. 20: The diocese reveals three Sarnia police reports from 1962, when three girls reported abuse by Sylvestre. The report was misfiled and only found by the diocese more than 40 years after the fact. Monday: Sylvestre, 84, dies in a Kingston prison hospital just three months into his three-year sentence. E-mail: jsims@lfpress.com
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