OPP clears priest of child porn allegations

CHCH
August 11, 2014

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It is one of societies most abhorrent crimes. Possession of child pornography. Charges can lead to prison time, destroying the lives and reputations of convicted felons.

It was back in June when police seized computers at a Catholic church in Caledonia following a tip that they contained inappropriate pornographic images. The incident shocked residents and devastated the parish priest, wrongfully linked to such a heinous allegation.

Father Mario Fernandes has spent his life devoted to helping others. A native of India, Father Mario worked as an addiction counsellor in Vancouver’s east side before moving to Ontario where he was appointed pastor of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Caledonia.

In June of this year, Father Mario’s life was shattered when police seized computers at the church after receiving a complaint that they contained inappropriate pornographic images. But a thorough check by the OPP’s technical crime unit found the images in question were advertising pop ups, that the computer’s firewall was unable to block. Today the computers were returned, and the case was closed. Still the incident has shocked the community and shattered the life of an innocent man.

Father Mario Fernandes, St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church: “You can imagine now I have to work with the parishioners as well as the people I have to go to the malls and everybody looking at me and looking at me in a different way. It was really stressful to know the situation and people labelling judging you not even waiting for the OPP to come and give us the right answers. So, it was very stressful.”

It is not unprecedented but it is unusual for police to show such support for a person linked to crimes involving child pornography. It speaks volumes of their confidence in his innocence.

Mark Foster, OPP: “Well, one of the biggest issues that we run into is the stigma that is attached to a number of different images within our community and the rumour mongering that goes on when something like this has happened.”

Douglas Rees, OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Section: “Well, we explained to Father Mario at the beginning — let this ride out. Let’s see what’s here first. The community was 100 % behind Father Mario. I received numerous calls from people in the community offering support for both Father Mario. It’s one of those things that with the medias help get it back in the good books that way and carry on.”

Father Mario Fernandes: “My faith my prayer life my parishioners and my diocese, everything joined together to help me to go through this journey.”

While police stress they have absolute faith that Father Mario has done nothing wrong, they do caution that people who believe they are witnessing inappropriate material should notify police. In this case, the concerns were unfounded but in another situation, it may prevent or top a crime.