. wi
ap :

1ocent until prov

- When sexual abuse charges are
laid, the accused can become

the victim

Most people are outraged when they first hear of the
activities of people like Robert Willoughby or Clifford
Olson. At the time of their trials, their sordid acts were
well-documented in the press, and people were asking:
“How can this happen? What sort of person would do
these kinds of things to children?’’

by Tod Strachan

“They must be stopped,’ was
the public cry for justice. And
since that time Willoughby,
Olson and many others like
them have been stopped.
They’re in jail.

Since those trials, though, a
growing number of cases involv-
ing varying degrees of child sex-
ual abuse have been héard in
Canadian courtrooms. And in

each case, what was believed to -

be an appropriate sentence has
been handed down. In each case
the legal process was carried out
under full public scrutiny and
sentences were handed down
with the full approval of society.
More than approval, perhaps
even a sense of revenge. It’s
unlikely society will ever
welcome these people back.
But,there is a negative side to
‘the public’s perception of the
acts‘of Willoughby and Olson.
They have, for many, become
the stereotype sexual abuser.
- Their fate has become an exam-
ple of the harsh treatment
awaiting other deviates .of this
sort who. are unable to control
their behavior. This is society's

_ censure and deterrent, but it also

raises questions about the pur-
. pose and operation of the justice
system,

A case in point could be the
Kelowna teacher currently seek-
ing re-entrance to his profession.
According to our justice system,
he has paid for his crime and
‘should be allowed to work. Un-

_ trusting parents, however, see

things differently. This is a pro-
blem that’s going to get worse
before it gets any better and it’s
a problem that needs to be
dealth with. What are we going
to do with offenders who say
they’ve learned their lesson? Of-
fenders who say they will ‘‘never
do it again’’? Can they ever be
trusted?

Some people may have.

pondered . this question, but
most have probably concluded
that an answer just doesn’t exist.
The majority, though, are ap-
parently of the view that there’s
nothing to debate. The sexual
abuse of children, they say, is
‘tantamount to murder and while
Our justice system founders in
philosophical debate, ‘social
justice must maintain a standard
of swift, firm and unforgiving
. punishment.

What’s wrong with this posi-
tion, however, is the fact that it
most often leads to the assump-
tion that the accused is guilty

| before: bs being tried. With what

could be described as a fear-
driven, lynch-mob mentality it’s
possible for the accused found
innocent by law to be guilty for
life in the eyes of his. peers. So
great is this fear of the child
molester that our society places
great pressure on the legal
system to indiscriminately ex-
tricate anyone tainted with an
accusation from our com-
munities.

This cry for blind justice,
however, may have caused
unintended but irreparable
damage to those same com-
munities it was designed to pro-
tect. Not only has it created a
phenomenon that some describe
as a ‘“‘witch hunt”, it may in-
advertently have placed the most
effective disciplinary weapon

ever devised: in:the hands of-our °

children.

The common belief ‘that

“Children don’t lie about these
things’? may be in need of re-
examination. ‘The child who has
been scorned by a parent, guar-
dian or caregiver has only to say,
‘*He abused me,’ to set the
heavy wheels of justice in mo-
tion.
. Sorting out the truth in these
matters is difficult. It’s the word
of the adult against the child,
How are we to determine the
truth? More -improtantly, how
are we going to treat the accused
before he’s proven quilty? The
following article tells the story
of one local father who was
charged with sexual abuse but
found innocent by a judge and
jury. The child had lied. The
father, though, still lives with
the stigma of the accusation and
tremendous costs of his defense.
Could this happen to you?

The cost of caring

Have you ever sexually abused
a child? It may not matter. It
seems that you could be accused
and charged anyway. In fact you
could end up before a judge and
jury, and, if you're not suc-
cessful in your defense... in jail.

This is the story of foster
family in-the Terrace area and
the devastation caused by a lie.
It doesn’t matter, though, that it
was a faster family. The accused
could just as easily been the
natural father, the grandfather,
baby sitter, -minister or a
teacher. The important facts are
that an innocent man was accus-
ed, charged and tried. Even
though the justice system work-
ed and. his innocence. proven,

he’s left with a $12,000 bill for
his defence and no hope of
recovering his loss. And he’s not
the first. .

(This is a true story but names,
dates and any details not impor-
tant to the issues involved have
been changed to avoid identify-
ing innocent persons.)

Almost a decade ago, a young
Terrace couple decided they
would like to be foster parents.
They had no children of their
own and the idea they could help
children in need was attractive to
them. They were soon offered
four children, ages six to 11. The
natural mother was an alcoholic
and due to.neglect.the children
had been made wards of the
court. This meant a long-term

placement, and the new parents.

couldn’t have been happier.

‘“‘We fully expected the
children to be with us until they
were able to function on their
own as young adults,’’ recalls
their foster mother.

But this vision of a normal,
happy family wasn’t to last long.

As, wards of the court. the:

children were listed in the: pro-
vincial adoption bulletin. In this
bulletin they were described as

‘“special needs”? children. This

fact was known to the parents
when they were considering
fostering the four children, but
having no experience it meant
little to them. Besides, the
children seemed normal enough
and social workers hadn’t made
a point of emphasizing the fact
that they were special needs
children, so why worry?

It wasn’t long, though, before
the full implications of dealing
with the term ‘special needs’?
became apparent. All four
children were about two to three
years behind in their emotional
and intellectual development.
When they first arrived, the new
parents discovered that the

children had difficulty following

even the simplest of directions;
communication skills and per-
sonal hygiene were poor. Most’
affected was the youngest.

“At the age of six Danny was
only able to speak three
understandable words,”’ recalls
the foster mother.

speech problem.” ;
In addtion to this, because of
some of the things they were told
by the children, they also believ- -
ed that eight-year-old Brenda
had been sexually assaulted at an
early age. They asked for help
but, ‘‘Social Services did very
little to give us emotional sup-
port in dealing with the
children.’? A tremendous chal-
lenge was before them, but they
cared for the children and
anything else didn’t seem to
matter. They had every reason
to believe that with a little love

Brenda,

“Social Ser- _
vices told us he had a ‘slight’ |

and a good home these children
would soon overcome their dif-
ficulties.

‘But it wasn’t going to be easy.
Due to the hardships they had
suffered early ‘in life the three

younger children fought and lied:

continually. Carol, the second

youngest, eventually improved:

but Danny, and particularly

“Brenda continually undermin-.
ed all attempts for us to survive
as a happy family,” recalls the
mother. ‘‘She was extremely
jealous of Carol and physically
and mentally abused her.’’

In time though, Allan, the
oldest, and Carol and Danny
became very attached to their
new parents. They were becom-
ing a family. But the constant
undermining by Brenda con-
tinued, and after three years of
effort the foster parents finally
asked that she be removed from
the home. They felt it was in the
best interest of the other three.
But his wouldn't be allowed.
“The all go or they all stay,” the
mother says she was told by a
social worker. So, unable to give
up the three, they kept all four.

- Two years later, the mother’s
health was failing and again the
parents asked Social Services to
remove Brenda.
of my husband’s was an ex-
perienced foster parent and was

willing to take the two girls,”

recalls the mother. ‘“We hated to
see Carol go. But that’s the only
way . Social Services would
agree.’

Brenda and Carol stayed « at
their new home for a year and
half but finally had to be moved
because of physical violence of

failed to respond.

“A co-worker »

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 3, 1990 15

Brenda towards. Carol. “‘They
have been in another home for
two years and are still together,”’
says the original foster mother.
And, “Brenda has inflicted deep

sears on Carol’s arms.’ She says
‘she made several attempts to

have the girls separated, but as it
was put to her by one social
worker, ‘‘Sisters should be
together. ”

Still, the original foster
parents tried to maintain contact
between the children and occa-
sionally invited the girls to their
home to visit their brothers. This

- seemed to work well for about

four years, “The girls came will-
ingly and happily to see us and
their brothers,”’ she recalled —

until about two years ago, when

-Brenda failed to show up for-a

Christmas Eve visit. After many

years of tension, this was the last

straw. The girls were almost 10
years older now and their
Original foster mother felt they
were old enough to decide for
themselves if they wished to
maintain contact.

“T felt I could show preferen-
tial treatment to Carol and not
feel too guilty,’ she says, and a
little over a month later took
Carol and her older brother out
to dinner.

Exactly nine days later, the
RCMP were looking for her hus-
band. She was told that Brenda
had filed charges of sexual.
assault and that, ‘‘Young.
children don’t lie.”? Brenda was
17 at the time and the complaint
was made less than a week after
her evening out with Carol and
Allan.

As a result of Brenda’s com-

continued on page 17

Teachers in fear
of abuse charges

False accusations of sexual abuse laid against teachers by their
students have become a growing cause for alarm and concem, ac-
cording to the president of the Terrace District Teachers’

Association.

Greig Houlden said during an interview in December that the
problem has become serious enough that the B.C. Teachers’
Federation has struck a task force to deal with it.

Unfounded accusations of sexual abuse are invariably
devastating to the professional and personal lives of teachers,
even when the accused is found innocent in court. Houlden says
he knows of at least two teachers in the Northwest “whose
careers were terminated, even with exoneration... the impact is
severe, it’s an extremely serious problem.’”

The provincial government has been lauded for the establish-
ment of an anonymous, toll-free reporting line for child abuse,
but authorities tend to downplay the impact of what they term
“vexatious complaints’ called in by people, both adults and chil-
dren, who have revenge on their minds. Houlden says the prob-
lem is not in the reporting system, however, but in the investiga-
tion procedures and the way charges are laid.

“There seems to be an ad hoc policy on the part of authorities
to air the charges publicly and wait for other complainants to

come forward,” he said.

He described the investigating procedure as a “lockstep policy
that handcuffs the (school) board’. Ministry of Education
policy, he said, requires school or district administrators to report
all allegations — without investigating them — to the Ministry of
Social Services and housing, who are required to go directly to
the RCMP. Once the RCMP are involved, he stated, “there is no

pretense of confidentiality,”’

Even if the courts subsequently find that the charges should
never have been brought forward, he said, careers are still ruined

by “suspicion, rumor and mistrust’’.

“This kind of stigma carries a lot of weight,” he said.
-Houlden noted that the TDTA is in the process of addressing

& Solashy

the issue with School District 88 administration, ‘‘Teachers are:
feeling very valnerable}?\ke suid.

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