By Harold Carmichael
North Bay Nugget
May 13, 2009
http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1565468
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| Solicitor Paul Jones (left) and the school principal leave Toowoomba Courthourse after yesterday's court mention. |
A retired Sudbury Regional Police superintendent testified that a police interview session he was conducting with two young boys who alleged they had been sexually assaulted by a Roman Catholic priest in 1983 essentially fell off the rails when a high-ranking church official unexpectedly showed up.
I would suggest . . . it appears the bishop (Gerard Dionne of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie) was trying to interfere with your investigation and prevent a police investigation from taking place," Crown attorney Diana Fuller asked during cross-examination Tuesday in the trial of Father Bernard Cloutier.
You could say that," replied Fern Kingsley, who was a sergeant at the time.
And he would have been a little biased with the protection of Father Cloutier?"
Yes," answered Kingsley.
Cloutier, 68, has pleaded not guilty to 16 sex charges involving alleged incidents with five young males from 1970 to 1983.
Cloutier was serving as parish priest at Paroisse Saints-Anges in North Bay when he was first charged in June 2007.
The charges include seven counts of gross indecency, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault.
The trial started May 4.
Kingsley was involved in investigating two incidents in the L'Annonciation Church rectory in Sudbury in the spring of 1983.
The first incident involved two young boys who slept over at the rectory for two nights on a weekend and were given alcohol by Cloutier, court heard. Each of the boys was fondled by Cloutier. One of the boys told his mother who contacted police.
A police meeting involving both sets of parents and boys was interrupted by Dionne and Cloutier.
Court heard last week that Dionne, after separately interviewing the boys, announced nothing happened. Cloutier, though, would get treatment in hospital until he was cured.
No charges were laid by police at the time.
It was not until 2007 when one of the alleged victims contacted police that charges were laid. Additional charges arose when other alleged victims came forward.
The second alleged incident at the rectory involved four to six male youths who called police to report they had been fondled by Cloutier after being given alcohol. No charges were laid, the court heard, because the youths recanted their stories.
The court heard it may have been Kingsley himself who tipped off the bishop about the meeting with the parents.
You felt you had an obligation to keep the bishop in the loop and you might have innocently said 'I have a meeting with the families tonight and I will keep you posted,'" asked Fuller.
It's possible," said Kingsley. The Crown and defence have
finished calling witnesses. A hearing is planned June 2 to set a date for Justice Paul Kane to hear applications from the defence and Crown.
The defence applications consist of a request to stay the charges due to destruction of evidence (police notes) and the understanding that Cloutier would not be charged concerning one of the 1983 incidents if he received treatment at a special hospital.
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