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	City Priest Took Leave of Absence By Trevor Pritchard Standard Freeholder July 5, 2008 http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1101437 A local priest stepped down as part-time chaplain at the old Cornwall Jail when sexual abuse allegations involving him appeared online, the Cornwall Public Inquiry heard yesterday. "I took a leave of absence until the issue could be clarified," said Rev. Kevin Maloney, 62, the current pastor at St. Peter's Church. In 1996, Maloney began spending about eight hours a week at the now-closed jail, ministering to both inmates and staff. Four years later, allegations that he sexually abused boys in the 1970s and 1980s appeared on at least two websites that claimed priests from the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese were part of a clan of pedophiles. In September 2000, an inspector for the the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Paul Downing, came to Cornwall and interviewed Maloney about the allegations. Maloney flatly denied the claims and told Downing he found the entire matter "trying and unsettling." "It has called my reputation in the community and the jail into question," Maloney said during the 55-minute interview. "It has compromised my ability to minister to my parish and at the jail." Inquiry lawyer Simon Ruel asked Maloney to explain how the accusations had affected his work, to the extent that he would take time off. "Part of my work as a priest is to be a person with integrity," said Maloney. "If it was questioned, my effectiveness was zilch." At the time, Maloney was also a priest at St. Columban's Church. He testified Thursday he never considered stepping away from his pastoral duties. That apparent contradiction piqued the curiosity of inquiry commissioner Normand Glaude. "You withdrew from the jail, but you didn't withdraw from the parish," said Glaude. "Can you explain why you did one and not the other?" "Because if you're in a jail situation and if you get labeled as child molester, you are not safe," Maloney replied. Maloney has never been charged with any crime stemming from a sexual abuse allegation. In 2001, the province's criminal injuries compensation board dismissed a financial claim brought by one alleged victim against the priest. During his cross-examination, Dallas Lee, a lawyer for The Victims Group, showed Maloney two lists of 21 clergymen who had been accused of abusing children. Lawyers had spent Wednesday and Thursday wrangling over those names, trying to find out how to balance the public's right to know with the privacy rights of priests never charged with a crime. In the end, Glaude ruled that 16 of the names would be made public, while another five remained confidential. Most of the public names had either been charged or had come up during prior testimony at the inquiry, which is exploring how institutions like the diocese handled historical sexual abuse allegations. Lee asked Maloney if he'd ever personally received an abuse complaint, or information from another source, about any of the men on the two lists. Maloney said he hadn't. Coalition for Action lawyer Ian Paul asked Maloney what rules the diocese's priests were expected to follow if someone admitted to sexual abuse while taking confession. "It's not a diocesan policy, it's a church policy, universal," said Maloney. "What happens in confession, stays in confession." "There would not be a duty to report?" asked Paul. "That's correct," replied Maloney. While the online allegations placed Maloney "under a tremendous amount of anxiety and stress," he told the inquiry there was also a positive side to being painted as a pedophile. "It made me become less independent," said Maloney. "I had to become more reliant on prayer. I had to depend upon the support that I received from family, from friends, and from parishioners." The inquiry is scheduled to resume July 14.
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