Rcmp Still Investigating Sexual Molestation Allegations against Former Olympic CEO John Furlong
By Jake Edmiston
The RCMP in British Columbia said Friday that it has yet to conclude its file on allegations that John Furlong, who headed the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games organizing committee, sexually assaulted two of his students while he was an elementary school teacher in northern B.C. in 1969 and 1970. In court documents filed Friday, John Hunter, a lawyer for Mr. Furlong, wrote that RCMP in Burns Lake, B.C., investigated at least one of the two sexual abuse allegations and found “the allegation to have no basis in fact.” But on Friday evening, Inspector Ed Boettcher, a spokesman at the RCMP’s B.C. headquarters in Surrey, said the Furlong case is still open. “I can’t speak to what others may or may not be saying,” Insp. Boettcher said. “But from an RCMP perspective, we’re not in a position to comment on it because our file has not been fully concluded on the Furlong matter. When all avenues are exhausted, then we can say it’s been concluded “When all avenues are exhausted, then we can say it’s been concluded,” he said. Two former students from Immaculata Roman Catholic School in Burns Lake filed separate lawsuits this week against Mr. Furlong. The allegations — that Mr. Furlong sexually assaulted the then-children during his one-year tenure in Burns Lake — are the latest in a series of child abuse claims dating back to a September 2012 article by journalist Laura Robinson. Last year, Mr. Furlong sued Ms. Robinson and Vancouver’s Georgia Straight, a weekly newspaper, over the article, which presented eight “statutory declarations” alleging that Mr. Furlong verbally and physically abused First Nations students during his time as a gym teacher in 1969-70. In January, Ms. Robinson submitted to a formal response to Mr. Furlong’s libel suit, unleashing a new set of sexual abuse allegations in documents filed with the B.C. Supreme Court. Mr. Furlong’s lawyer submitted a rebuttal to the journalist’s court filings, claiming Ms. Robinson has shown a “historical pattern of serious inaccuracies, reckless regard for the truth and later retractions.” Embedding sexual assault allegations into court documents was “a legal tactic,” wrote the lawyer, “a personal vendetta … designed by [Ms. Robinson] to allow “backdoor” publication of these defamatory comments. Shocked and appalled at the personal attack on her reputation as a journalist “The defendant’s allegations did not meet the normal evidence required for publication by a journalist,” the document reads. “[She] understood her defamatory allegations could and would be published, because … they were contained in a privileged document.” Responding to the allegations of physical abuse against students, Mr. Furlong’s lawyer writes in the court filing that his client only adhered to “the expectations of his employers,” which included standing over students doing pushups, “criticiz[ing] and/or reprimand[ing]” students when they performed improperly or without enthusiasm, and employing an “often-used” footwork drill that saw the teacher throw basketballs in a student’s direction. “The events alleged are said to have occurred in 1969 and 1970 but have not been reported in the intervening decades,” the lawyer added. “That is because [the alleged abuses] never occurred.” Ms. Robinson’s lawyer, Bryan Baynham, said he was surprised to see the court filings on Friday, since he had expected Mr. Furlong’s reply six months ago. Mr. Furlong’s current wife died in an April car accident in Ireland, which Mr. Baynham suspects to have contributed to the delay. “We have evidence and we look forward to the opportunity to prove it in trial,” he said. “[Ms. Robinson is] quite frankly shocked and appalled at the personal attack on her reputation as a journalist.” None of the allegations against Mr. Furlong have been tested in court. National Post, with files from Brian Hutchinson Contact: jedmiston@nationalpost.com
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