Perry Dunlop's Wife Tells Supporters Husband Is a Whistleblower Who Tried to Protect Children from Pedophiles
By Bill Cleverley
Times Colonist
February 18, 2008
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=89927049-0d69-41a6-9e86-e4aed4a76a42&k=64680
Amid a bizarre, almost circus-like atmosphere, Duncan RCMP arrested former Cornwall, Ont., police officer Perry Dunlop yesterday as about 75 supporters looked on.
"You're our hero!" and "We love you, Perry!" came shouts from the crowd as Dunlop walked arm-in-arm with his wife, Helen, to the squad car at the end of their driveway.
The RCMP were executing a Canada-wide warrant issued last month for Dunlop, 43, who has refused to testify at a Cornwall sex-abuse inquiry.
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| Perry Dunlop hugs his wife, Helen, yesterday before being taken into custody by Duncan RCMP for contempt of court. A rally outside his home in Duncan attracted about 75 supporters who gave speeches of support. Photo by Debra Brash |
After an hour-long rally, in which Perry and Helen Dunlop as well as their three daughters painted themselves as victims being persecuted for attempting to protect children from pedophiles, they called the RCMP, telling them Perry Dunlop was at home and inviting them to come and arrest him.
When police showed up to do exactly that, Perry Dunlop initially refused to go because the officers could not produce the arrest warrant, which they said they had left back at the detachment.
The refusal was odd, given that photocopies of the warrant were passed out to Dunlop supporters as they showed up for the rally.
When two different officers showed up a second time with the paperwork, he agreed to go.
"I want everybody to witness what is going on. The whistleblower is being arrested on a Canada-wide warrant for protecting children," Helen Dunlop said through a microphone as RCMP served her husband with the warrant.
One of the officers explained to Perry Dunlop, as he had done earlier in the day when supporters and media were not present, that there was no need for him to be arrested.
The officer said he would leave Dunlop alone if he voluntarily agreed to fly back to Ontario tomorrow.
Dunlop refused.
"I'm not voluntarily going back," he said.
An Ontario judge issued the warrant for Dunlop's arrest after he disobeyed a court order to appear before a public inquiry into sexual-abuse allegations that he helped to investigate as a police officer in the 1990s.
Because it was his investigation in 1993 that first uncovered allegations of child abuse by highly placed members of Cornwall society -- including a priest, a lawyer and a Crown prosecutor -- Dunlop's testimony is seen as key to the inquiry.
Dunlop maintains that when he first shed light on the allegations of abuse, there was a reluctance by anyone to act.
He ultimately provided details of the case to the media and to the Children's Aid Society. That led to his being ostracized and forced out of the city force, he says.
The stress led to an emotional breakdown.
He and his family moved to Duncan in 2000.
Years later, an Ontario Provincial Police investigation led to 15 people being charged with sex offences against children. One was jailed.
Dunlop says he has lost faith in the system.
"It's toxic. It's a toxic environment. They'll twist my words," he said yesterday.
"I've said that I will read my statement to the best of my ability -- and they just want to tear me to pieces. I want the victims to tell their story." Dunlop said at the inquiry he'll face a phalanx of lawyers.
"There's too many people being silent and they'll put these high-priced lawyers that are professional spin doctors, and they just pound and pound and pound. Most people can't stand one or two lawyers going at them. There [are] 70 lawyers in the inquiry." bcleverley@tc.canwest.com
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