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	Cowichan Valley Man Who Blew Whistle in Alleged Sex Abuse Scandal Says Battle Goes on By Lexi Bainas Times-Colonist January 15, 2010 http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Cowichan+Valley+blew+whistle+alleged+abuse+scandal+says+battle+goes/2446085/story.html Helen and Perry Dunlop are still waiting to read an English copy of the extensive report from the inquiry into events in Cornwall, Ontario when he was a police officer there. They said this week their decades-long battle against those who prey upon children is far from over. The government of Ontario spent years and $60 million dollars for an inquiry into an alleged sex abuse scandal in the community of Cornwall but the only person who's gone to jail is the former cop who blew the whistle on it all: Cowichan Valley resident Perry Dunlop. He now lives in Duncan with his wife, Helen, and three daughters but was dragged back to Ontario in early 2008 to testify at the inquiry headed by Commissioner Normand Glaude. As a police officer in Cornwall, he'd originally reported a $32,000 payout to silence a victim in a child molesting case but after feeling the heavy hand of official disapproval for his action, Dunlop left the force disillusioned and moved to the Cowichan Valley. He and his wife had even considered moving to New Zealand but decided they wanted to stay in Canada and see justice done for the many victims of abuse he talked to in Ontario and has met since. Dunlop said what bothers him most about the Cornwall inquiry and other instances in which police departments and other official bodies have investigated their own actions is that the public is not seeing justice done. "Just to bring it closer to the coast, look at the one going on in Vancouver, with the RCMP. They don't want the commission to have any findings of misconduct. Which then begs the question: why spend millions and millions of dollars if nobody did anything wrong or they can't be held accountable? What is it really about?" he asked. Helen added, "Not even the commissioner contested that what Perry did was right but Perry was the only one punished." Perry agreed. "Let's make that clear. The only person who did jail time was the whistle blower who followed the law to protect children and point out the cover-up. Till the day I die there will be no doubt in my mind this was a cover-up. The whole OPP investigation which spent millions of dollars as well as years was out to discredit me." What both of them really feel badly about is the way victims of abuse were tempted out of the shadows by promises of justice only to see it slide away from them as the inquiry rolled up its tents and galloped off. However, the way the inquiry talked about "historical abuse" really infuriates him. "It was current then and it's going on now and it will keep on going if we don't recognize it and deal with it. The problem will just fester. To me, it seems like it was just a dogfight to protect the institutions. If we can't be sincere in these things, there's no sense having them." People in institutions that should be trustworthy have abused their trust, he said. "In this era of being so connected we've got to start listening to each other. How many times do we have to hear the same story before we listen and take action? They are losing credibility. You can't tell me the credibility of the police and churches isn't coming down in freefall. They'd better get serious." Both Perry and Helen are stopped by victims of child molestation or sex abuse all the time; being part of a well-known fight to help victims means the walls are down and people who never want to talk to anyone else want to tell their stories. It can be stressful, but it's an important responsibility, both said. He's worried that nothing seems to change. "That's the scary part. Our country seems not to take sexual abuse of children seriously. Take a look across the country where you see comments like 'he pled guilty and got an unconditional discharge'." She agreed. "What message are we sending to our children and young parents?" she asked. They are also concerned that pedophiles often make their way into positions in the community. "It's not the stranger that's molesting our kids. They'd be easy to pick out. What stranger can walk down the street and get into our family homes? I don't want to name specific groups but people know," Perry said. The massive Glaude report has been published, but when the Dunlops sat down to talk, they still had not read it because the copies of the documents that were sent to them were all in French. "I've sent for it in English," Helen said. However, the report is just the end of this part of the marathon for the Dunlops. Since he returned following two jail sentences in late 2008, Perry has appealed his criminal conviction, which now stops him from holidaying in the United States with his family, even though his only crime was to dig in his heels when asked to testify before an inquiry in which he'd lost confidence. "Oh, but he was punished extra because he spoke here," Helen said, referring to the huge rally as the Dunlop home in which hundreds of supporters gathered to show local police who came to arrest him that the local contractor had the backing of his community. The appeal is now at the Ontario Appellate court and seems to be stuck there, they said. Both Dunlops are determined to keep up their fight to help the victims of sexual abuse, despite the issuing of the Glaude report. "We believe the truth will keep coming. If people had done their jobs, it would have been easy. The victims had the evidence. They beat them down. Our kids these days are getting more and more knowledgeable. We hope we can win this war, but we need video surveillance," Perry said. "We need to be a template for the guy coming down the pike. I don't want anyone to go through this. I want to give a little hope. But, this problem is bigger than us. "Long after we die, it will still be here but pedophiles will never simply be accepted in Canada while I'm alive," he said. Now, Dunlop and his family are trying to rebuild their lives. His construction business took a severe hit when he was incarcerated and the family only managed to keep their home through the support of many friends both in the Valley and across Canada. "We know we have lots of support. We had the 'A' team behind us. We're incredibly grateful for all of it. We want to be a part of our community and raise our family," he said.
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