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	Cornwall Cop Didn't Botch Sex Abuse Investigation, Witness Admits By Trevor Pritchard Ottawa Sun February 15, 2008 http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/02/14/4847859.html CORNWALL, Ont. — A supposedly botched investigation by city police into a December 1992 sexual abuse allegation wasn't nearly as ineffective as an Ottawa police officer made it out to be, a public inquiry heard Thursday. During his cross-examination of retired Supt. Brian Skinner, Cornwall police attorney John Callaghan suggested that lead investigator Const. Heidi Sebalj was a competent officer who worked hard to build a good rapport with the complainant, David Silmser, over the span of the nine-month investigation. Skinner spent eight days in Cornwall in January 1994 exploring how the force handled Silmser's accusations that he had been sexually abused by city priest Charles MacDonald and probation officer Ken Seguin. While city police concluded there was not enough evidence to charge MacDonald, he was eventually charged by provincial police in 1996 with a number of sex-related offences during their Project Truth investigation. Those charges were stayed in 2002. MacDonald has always maintained his innocence. Seguin was alleged to have abused several young boys in the 1980s and 1990s. He was never charged and committed suicide in 1993. One of the major criticisms in Skinner's report, entered into evidence Wednesday, was that Sebalj was too inexperienced to head the investigation. Skinner testified Wednesday that Sebalj had only been with the department responsible for handling sexual assault allegations for two months. One of the investigation's major missteps, he said, was that Sebalj didn't fully interview a former parishioner of MacDonald's who said the allegations had hit "very close to home." On Thursday, Callaghan took Skinner through a series of attempts Sebalj made to get a statement from another alleged abuse victim, whose name is under a publication ban. Sebalj's notes showed that she made multiple phone calls to the man, visited him in person, and only gave up when his lawyer advised him he wouldn't be making a statement to police. "This is good police digging," suggested Callaghan. "And she did a good job on this." "I agree," said Skinner. The inquiry is examining the institutional response to allegations of systemic sexual abuse in the Cornwall area.
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