CANADA
The Province
BY CHERYL CHAN, THE PROVINCE OCTOBER 28, 2013
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.
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