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	Former Chief Faced Unprecedented Situation with Project Truth By Trevor Pritchard Standard-Freeholder June 26, 2008 http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1087499 Few events in Anthony Repa's three previous decades of police work could have prepared him for what he'd face running the Cornwall Police Service. That was the gist of the testimony that Repa, the city's police chief from 1995 until 2003, delivered Tuesday at the Cornwall Public Inquiry. "To become the chief of police of a service that was now going to undergo its third police investigation, basically on the same issues . . . it was a very unique situation," said Repa. Before arriving in Cornwall, Repa had served since 1967 with the Halton Regional Police Service. Two years into his new position, the Ontario Provincial Police launched Project Truth: a four-year investigation into allegations that prominent men from the area had sexually abused boys over the previous four decades. During the probe, the OPP questioned a number of Cornwall police officers about previous sexual abuse investigations they carried out -- including the force's 1992-93 investigation into abuse allegations David Silmser made against Rev. Charles MacDonald. That case was closed in September 1993 after Silmser accepted a $32,000 payout from the local Roman Catholic diocese. But the subsequent media attention led to an outside review of the CPS' investigation by Ottawa police, and in 1994 the OPP reopened their investigation into MacDonald. Repa told the inquiry -- which is exploring how agencies like the CPS handled historical sexual abuse allegations -- that he felt Project Truth was canvassing the Silmser investigation for a third time. "It's not the OPP's fault. It's nobody's fault. It had to be," he said. "But it was an incredible situation to live through." Repa told lead commission counsel Peter Engelmann that he believed the OPP probe could put any Cornwall police officer, past or present, under the microscope. "(My understanding was that) potentially, every member that had ever served in the Cornwall Police Service historically, that had retired or gone on elsewhere, was under investigation," Repa said. "(And) that every current member of the police service was under investigation -- including its chief of police, Tony Repa." The OPP charged 14 men during Project Truth, although only one man was convicted. Some were acquitted, others died before their cases were heard, and at least one person was declared mentally unfit to stand trial. MacDonald was also charged, although his charges were stayed in 2002 after a judge decided they'd taken too long to come to trial. He has always maintained his innocence. Four months before Project Truth was launched, the OPP received a binder of documents from former city cop Perry Dunlop, detailing allegations of widespread sexual abuse in the community. Dunlop had also been a key figure in the Silmser case. After learning of the $32,000 payout, Dunlop had delivered Silmser's statement to the local Children's Aid Society branch. The CPS later had Dunlop charged under the Police Services Act for going outside official channels -- charges that were eventually dismissed. By the time Repa arrived in Cornwall, Dunlop was off on stress leave. He also had launched a civil suit against the force -- one which named a number of high-ranking CPS officers and accused the force of carrying out a "malicious prosecution." Engelmann asked Repa if he was worried about potential conflict between Dunlop and the officers he was suing when he returned to work in 1997. "Yes. They were my concerns, just me," said Repa. "There might be possible friction, there might be this, there might be that." But if there was animosity between Dunlop and his co-workers, it didn't reach his office, and the force operate professionally, he added. "This is not the biggest police force in the world. Word would have got back to me through the unofficial grapevine that there was a problem," he said. "It did not." After Dunlop returned, Repa approved a policy that forbade Dunlop for dealing directly with Crown attorney Murray MacDonald. Dunlop had previously accused the lawyer of being part of an alleged coverup. "Were you ever advised through the chain of command . . . that Mr. Dunlop found this directive to be intimidating?" asked Engelmann. "Not to my recollection, sir," Repa responded. The former chief added that the conditions surrounding Dunlop's return were practically unheard of. "I don't think this has ever happened anywhere else," he said. "These (circumstances) he was returning under (were) very unusual." Repa told the inquiry one of his first moves as chief was to ensure that all sexual abuse investigations -- historical or otherwise -- were reported to the CAS. "I made it clear: I wanted everything sent to the CAS," he said. "Let them sort it out." Repa is scheduled to return to the stand when the inquiry resumes this morning.
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