By Sharon Hill
Windsor Star
October 24, 2007
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=55696686-654b-45e3-9c6a-06782b43b830&k=87454
Mary Ann Mulhern is using poetry to give the victims of pedophile priest Rev. Charles Sylvestre a distinct voice she hopes will help prevent sexual abuse.
She's written about 80 poems for a book that could be out in April, after speaking to four victims and reading court documents from the sexual abuse case. And she's working with Chatham-Kent Crown attorney Paul Bailey, who shares her passion for speaking out on behalf of the victims and educating the public.
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| Poet Mary Ann Mulhern is writing a book of poetry on the Rev. Charles Sylvestre sexual abuse case with help from Chatham-Kent Crown attorney Paul Bailey who led the prosecution against the priest. Photo by Sharon Hill |
Wednesday, the pair discussed another poem destined for the book, after Bailey spoke to a University of Windsor class that is helping to edit Mulhern's work. Bailey, who led the prosecution against Sylvestre, told the class there will be more victims if the case is buried.
"We need to keep this issue alive and we need to keep it alive in every forum we can," Bailey told the group of 21 students Wednesday.
Sylvestre died at age 84 in January. He was a few months into a three-year prison term. He had pled guilty to sexually abusing 47 girls in parishes around Southwestern Ontario, including Windsor.
Mulhern, a former nun and teacher, said she hopes the book, with the working title The Chosen Ones, will give people a greater understanding of the lifelong impact of sexual abuse. She said the abuse closed so many doors for the women, from attending university to having a happy marriage.
"They will never know who they could have been."
Bailey said "art endures" and the poetry is one of the ways he can continue to honour the request made by the women who trusted him to represent them -to use the case as a platform for change.
The London diocese now has a draft code of conduct that says priests can't be alone with a child in the car or home of a priest. The code includes 10 points, including that priests should avoid one-on-one instruction for events such as first communion and should not give expensive gifts to children.
Bailey said the code won't work unless the public knows about it and is watching to see if their priests are following it, the same way parents in hockey know about the "two deep rule" of having two responsible adults present when there's a child around.
He said parents can't assume nothing will happen because their priest is a nice guy.
"One of the chilling aspects of this case is that Father Sylvestre was a charming, affable, likeable fellow," Bailey told the university class.
"Unfortunately, research has shown that the very worst predators are always the best hockey coaches, the best boy scout leaders, the best teachers and the most likeable priests."
That doesn't mean all well-liked priests are pedophiles, Bailey said.
He wants more codes of conduct in churches and more awareness to make it more difficult for any priest or pastor to abuse a child.
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