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	Cornwall Sex Abuse Inquiry Continues Ottawa Citizen [Canada] March 27, 2006 http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html? id=6b3f7eee-b600-48ca-bb0e-bd0a8adfee9d&k=61967 Cornwall, Ont. — Alleged child abuse victims say motions to exclude their testimony and an eastern Ontario Catholic diocese from scrutiny threaten to render a public inquiry into their claims useless. The independent inquiry into the handling of decades-old allegations of abuse in Cornwall resumed today after a month-long break. Lawyers for the Alexandria-Cornwall Diocese, alleged abuse victims and other groups are to begin submissions on the motions. Rob Talach, a lawyer for the alleged victims, says some feel the battle for closure would be lost if the motions succeed. A police investigation in the 1990s resulted in 114 sex abuse charges against 15 Cornwall citizens. But only one man pleaded guilty and four were acquitted. Investigators said they found no evidence of a pedophile ring in Cornwall. The inquiry is examining how Cornwall police, child welfare officials and other public institutions responded to accusations of sexual abuse that spanned decades. Lawyers for the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall have asked that it not be treated as a public institution during the inquiry, thereby exempting from it thorough scrutiny. "You can get out and take the pulse on the street, but I think there is a sort of shock from the public, or at least as it's relayed to me, that it's even an issue to be debated," Talach said.
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