BishopAccountability.org
	College to Hire Outsider to Probe Abuse By Jason Van Rassel Calgary Herald December 15, 2011 http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/College+hire+outsider+probe+abuse/5863408/story.html Prairie Bible Institute says it will bring in a third-party group to look into claims of sexual abuse at the nondenominational Christian college in Three Hills. Linda Fossen, a former student who alleged she and dozens of others were abused at the school, has been calling for an independent investigation by a U.S.-based Christian organization. Fossen said Wednesday she is skeptical of the school's likely move to hire a Canadian group instead, because of Prairie Bible Institute's wide reach among Christian organizations in Canada. "I find it hard to believe they could find any evangelical organization that doesn't have connections to Prairie," Fossen said. Prairie Bible Institute president Mark Maxwell said the school's board is meeting today to make a decision. "We are still working on arrangements, so there is nothing to report," he said Wednesday morning. The school has also encouraged anyone with abuse allegations to report them to the RCMP. Fossen had demanded the institute engage Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, a U.S. nonprofit group that works with church organizations facing abuse allegations. "I find it really offensive we were not given an opportunity to give any input into who that third party would be," said Fossen, who claims to have been contacted by nearly 100 former students alleging abuse at the institute. Fossen said the outpouring came after she recently went public with allegations she was abused by her father, a former student and part time employee of the school in the 1960s. Fossen's father, Charles Phelps, has denied the accusations. So far, the RCMP has received only three complaints of abuse with any connection to Prairie, including Fossen's. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb previously said the allegations involve Prairie "in name only" and the school itself isn't under investigation for any kind of systemic abuse or coverup. Contact: jvanrassel@calgaryherald.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.