John Furlong Vows to 'Escalate' Lawsuit against Journalist Who Detailed Abuse Allegations

By Cheryl Chan
The Province
October 28, 2013

http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/John+Furlong+vows+escalate+lawsuit+against+journalist+detailed+sexual+abuse/9094531/story.html

John Furlong, former head of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the man at the centre of allegations of physical and sexual abuse, sat down with Global News anchor Chris Gailus and told his side of the story in an interview aired Monday night.

John Furlong said he is dropping his defamation suit against the Georgia Straight newspaper but vows to “escalate” action against the freelance journalist who wrote the article containing allegations Furlong abused former students.

In an interview with Global News broadcast Monday night, Furlong said he is not interested in pursuing the lawsuit against the Straight.

“My issue is not with the media,” said the former Vancouver 2010 Olympics boss. “We tried to convince them not to do it ... they printed the story. But the story was given to them by Laura Robinson. All of this was hers.”

The article, published last September, alleged Furlong physically and verbally abused eight First Nations students while he was a physical education teacher at Immaculata school in Burns Lake in the late 1960s. Furlong filed the defamation suits in November.

In July, two former students Beverly Abraham and Grace West filed separate lawsuits against Furlong alleging sexual abuse. Last month, a third lawsuit was filed by an unidentified man who claims he was sexually abused. None of these claims have been proven in court.

Furlong said he and his family have been living in hell since the accusations, which he called “vile” and “terrible,” surfaced.

“The damage to me is huge,” he told Global News anchor Chris Gailus. His goal, he said, was to “not let anyone else be a victim like this, to be treated so cavalierly trashed, humiliated, demeaned in public without even an ounce of process.”

Furlong said RCMP sent him a letter this April clearing him of sexual abuse allegations brought forward by Abraham.

He said he plans to fight the two other lawsuits and will “escalate” his case against Robinson “because I feel the process has been disrespected.” He did not elaborate on what escalation entails.

Robinson’s lawyer Bryan Baynham said he has not heard from Furlong’s lawyer in 11 months, and does not know what Furlong’s threat of escalation means.

“There is nothing you can do to escalate the lawsuit,” said Baynham, adding the suggestion Furlong has been treated differently or suffered more than someone else involved in a defamation lawsuit is untrue. “Just because the case is more interesting or high-profile does not make it different from any other defamation suit.”

Baynham said Robinson, who is currently in Denmark attending a conference, stands by her story: “She is confident she will be able to prove each and every allegation in the statement of response and welcome the opportunity for a trial as soon as possible,” he said.

Roger McConchie, who is representing the Georgia Straight, said he was unaware of Furlong’s plan to drop the lawsuit against the newspaper.

“I’m assuming what he is intending to do is to file a notice of discontinuance in court against the George Straight,” he said. “But I have not had any communication with his lawyer.”

Contact: chchan@theprovince.com