Aboriginal Man Alleges He Was Sexually Abused by Former Vancouver Olympics Chief John Furlong
By Brian Hutchinson
An Aboriginal man has come forward with allegations claiming that Vancouver Olympic Winter Games chief executive John Furlong sexually abused him on three occasions almost 40 years ago, at the same B.C. elementary school where other former students have accused Mr. Furlong of committing assaults. In a statement of claim filed Monday in B.C. Supreme Court, Daniel Morice claims that during the 1969-1970 academic year, Mr. Furlong, then a physical education teacher at Immaculata Roman Catholic Elementary School in Burns Lake, B.C., “isolated” him in a small room at the school. On two occasions, the plaintiff claims, Mr. Furlong “removed his penis from his pants and showed it to the plaintiff and forced the plaintiff to touch and masturbate him.” On the last occasion, Mr. Furlong “penetrated the plaintiff’s anus with his penis,” it is alleged. Mr. Morice, who now lives in Smithers, B.C., was nine years old at the time of the alleged events. The new accusations have not been tested in court. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Prince Rupert and the Catholic Independent Diocese of Prince George are also named as defendants in Mr. Morice’s statement of claim, filed in Vancouver. None of the defendants could be reached late Monday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Mr. Furlong filed statements of defence related to accusations made against him in a lawsuit filed in July by two other former Immaculata students, both of them female. “The defendant denied that he sexually molested or physically abused or engaged in any inappropriate conduct in respect of the plaintiff,” reads Mr. Furlong’s two identical statements of defence, filed Monday. The defence documents say that Mr. Furlong doesn’t remember teaching the plaintiffs, Beverly Mary Abraham and Grace Jessie West. The women both allege that Mr. Furlong physically and sexually abused them during his year at Immaculata, where he served as a volunteer teacher. Mr. Furlong has not been charged with any crime. In more court filings made in July, a lawyer for Mr. Furlong claimed the RCMP in Burns Lake have investigated at least one of the two sexual abuse allegations and found “the allegation to have no basis in fact.” But Inspector Ed Boettcher later told the National Post that 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.” Mr. Morice, in his statement of claim, says that following the abuse he allegedly suffered, he “was intimidated by the defendants and their influence, he was suffering emotionally and psychologically from the abuse, and he was generally disempowered as a result of racism and geographic isolation. He did not seek legal advice and was unaware that he could bring legal action against the plaintiffs.” An Irish-born business executive, Mr. Furlong rose to national prominence and was awarded the Order of Canada for his leadership role with the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, which were held in Vancouver. After the games ended, he went on speaking tours and co-authored an autobiography in which he describes both his leadership role at VANOC, Vancouver’s Olympic organizing committee, and his early days spent in Canada as a teacher. His book left the impression that he first came to Canada in 1974. No mention was made in the book about his foray to Burns Lake five years earlier, or teaching at Immaculata Elementary.
Last year, veteran Canadian sports reporter Laura Robinson wrote a long indictment of Mr. Furlong in the Georgia Straight, a Vancouver weekly newspaper. Her article included allegations from eight former Immaculata students — including Ms. Abraham — of physical and verbal abuse by Mr. Furlong.
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