During the July 30th interview at VPD headquarters, one of the investigators kept mentioning that this case would be tough due to the 40 years that have passed.
Well, this isn’t exactly true.
Former Canadian Armed Forces corporal Donald Joseph Sullivan was convicted in 2019 for molesting numerous boys from the Ottawa area in the mid ’70s.
Sullivan had been a boy scout leader when the Ottawa police in the ’70s started to get complaints.
Sullivan disappeared off the radar so to speak. The police couldn’t find him.
Turns out he had joined the Canadian Armed Forces.
However his stint in the Canadian Forces wasn’t enough to disaude him from molesting young boys.
In 1984, he was given a court martial for his assaults against the boys.
In 1985, he tried to appeal his conviction via the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada.
The CMAC ruled that the Canadian Armed Forces had the legal right to conduct a court martial for the crimes of “Gross Indecency”, “Indecent Assault”, and “Buggery”.
The interesting thing about Sullivan’s court martial conviction is that it did not show up in his civilian records and was not taken into consideration during his sentencing in 2019.
When I brought Sullivan’s military convictions to the attention of the reporter covering the 2019 convictions, he passed this information on to the Ontario Crown.
The Crown was not too pleased to hear this.
Below are a sampling of historical child sexual assault cases from the 1970s and 1980s.
All I searched for was “canada man charged for sexual assaults in the 1970s”
1970’s sexual assault from group home
Group home sex assaults from the ’80s
Historic assault from the ’80s
Teacher sex assaults from the ’70s
Vancouver swimming coach 1980s
There’s the ongoing saga of Gordon Stuckless from Maple Leaf Gardens in the ’80s who to this day is still facing more charges as more adults keep coming forward.
There’s also the curious case of Kenneth Estabrooks from St. John, New Brunswick. Mr. Estabrooks died in the early 2000’s. After his death, numerous people came forward with complaints that Mr. Estabrooks had abused them while they were in his custody in the juvenile detention system.
The City of St. John hired a private investigator to look into these complaints. The investigator came to the conclusion that Estabrooks had in fact sexually abused well over 260 children that had been placed into his care.
Even though Estabrooks is long since dead, the city is facing numerous lawsuits and in fact is facing a class action lawsuit.
So, why would the CFNIS make such a big deal about the fact that the abuses I reported occured from 1978 to 1980.
It’s obvious that smaller civilian police departments without the budgets or the manpower of the Canadian Armed Forces have absolutely no problem bringing charges.
If I had to guess, I would assume that the risk or potential for civil actions arising out of the actions of former employees of the Department of National Defence plays a major role in determining whether or not charges will be laid.
Again, the investigators with the CFNIS are still subject to the Chain of Command. There is no language in the National Defence Act which exempts investigators with the CFNIS from section 83 of the National Defence Act.
Yes, the CFNIS and the CFNIS investigators are supposed to be independent of the Chain of Command. But, there is no language in the National Defence Act that exempts the Provost Marshal, the Military Police Group, or the CFNIS from the Chain of Command.
A simplified outline of the Chain of Command in the CFNIS hierarchy is :
Minister of National Defence -> Chief of Defence Staff -> Vice Chief of Defence Staff -> Provost Marshal -> Commanding Officer CFNIS -> Regional Commanding Officer CFNIS -> CFNIS investigator.
In March of 2001, when my former babysitter, Mr. P.S. sued Angus Alexander McRae, P.S. was obligated to sue the Minister of Defence as at the time McRae abused P.S., McRae was a member of the regular force.
The Canadian Forces did accept legal liability for the abuse that P.S. had endured at the hands of Captain McRae on Canadian Forces Base Namao.
At the time of my Federal Court appeal in October of 2013, I didn’t have access to the Department of Justice paperwork from when the Department of Justice defended the Canadian Forces in P.S.’s civil action.
However, now that I have that paperwork, I know that a settlement was reached.
If the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service had brought charges against P.S. for the abuse he committed against myself, my brother, P.G., M.O., and the other 25 children that McRae and P.S. were known to have abused on CFB Namao from 1978 to 1980, this would have opened up a civil action Pandora’s box.
So, how will my matter with the “man in the sauna” conclude?
Well, first off the only witness to the abuse in the sauna was P.S..
Depending on how the CFNIS approach P.S., he may or may not be willing to talk.
Under the current Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, I can’t see the CFNIS being permitted to approach P.S. as a witness.
In 2011, when the CFNIS became aware of the direct connection between P.S., Captain McRae, and 5 distinct visits that P.S. had taken me on over to the chapel, the CFNIS outright refused to change the scope of the investigation from investigating P.S. as the main suspect to investigating P.S. as another victim of Captain McRae who had used P.S. to bring young children over to the chapel for McRae to abuse.
In the current investigation of the man in the sauna, it is apparent that whoever this man was used P.S.. Therefore P.S. is not a suspect in this investigation, nor should he be considered a suspect.
However, I have no doubt in my mind that the CFNIS will not be permitted to approach P.S. as a witness.
The CFNIS will approach P.S. in a manner guaranteed to make sure that he is as uncooperative as possible.
This way, when this investigation concluded, the CFNIS can shrug their shoulders and say “We tried, but 40 years is a long time, there’s nothing we could do” thereby ensuring that no civil actions can be brought against the Canadian Forces.
Child sexual abuse in the Canadian Forces 