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THE POLICE TASK FORCE
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Timeline
Read more about the key
dates in the Martensville case and investigation.
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The
Case Collapses
The trails against the nine accused began in March
1993. One - a young offender - was found guilty. The
next, against John Popowich,
collapsed when the boys who claimed they were assaulted
couldn't pick him out in court. The case against the
Sterlings dragged on for five months. In the end,
Travis Sterling was found guilty but not his parents,
Ron and Linda.
That's when the Saskatchewan Department of Justice
ruled that there would be no more cases. The Courts
ruled that there was no Devil Church, no Satan and
no conspiracy of pedophiles. In the end, eight of
the nine people charged were freed. Only Travis Sterling,
the babysitter's son, went to jail for fondling and
touching two of the children.
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The Sterlings were the first to be arrested.
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Behind
the Hysteria in Martensville
It turned out that things in the Martensville investigation
had gone wrong right from the start.
Despite orders from the crown prosecutors not to arrest
anyone, Martensville Chief of Police Mike Johnson
was so convinced in the Satanic conspiracy that laid
the charges before the all of the evidence was in.
(read the Crown Prosecutors
version of what went wrong) No longer a police
chief, he refused to talk to the fifth estate about
the investigation.
Operation
Forway
Saskatchewan Justice called in a special task force
to sift through the evidence. The lead investigator
Sgt. Rick Pearson quickly saw that the case had weak
foundations, "at the end of the day, we started
to see flaws of what didn't seem to hold any water
and we started to question it and analyze it."
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The RCMP swept the blue building with a special
Luma Light to search for evidence - but found
nothing.
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When
the blue building - the 'Devil Church' - was searched
with a Luma Light, police couldn't find a single trace
of blood or hair or semen. Early in the investigation
the children had been shown pictures of the building
and it's contents. And - experts speculate - over
the next few months the children started generating
stories about them.
The
same thing happened with the suspects. When one child
said he remembered being driven to the country by
a cop, other children began to pick out police from
the photographs they were shown. That's why the list
of police suspects kept growing.
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Interview
Read about recent changes in how police investigate
child sexual abuse cases.
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The
Children's Testimony
The only evidence the prosecution had was the children's
testimony - which was problematic. Experts who reviewed
the tapes said the questions were leading. And when
the children gave the 'right' answers they were rewarded
with praise. The RCMP investigators had serious doubts
about the allegations.
Just one month before the first trail in March 1993
Sgt. Rick Pearson told the crown prosecutors that
their evidence was full of holes - opening a rift
with the prosecutors. "There was criticism of
the task force in that it didn't go in the direction
they wanted it to go." But there was too much
momentum and the cases proceeded anyways. (Read
the RCMP's analysis of what went wrong with the investigation)
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Crown Prosecutor Bruce Bauer could not comment
about the case when approached by the fifth
estate.
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Paying
for the Mistakes of Martensville
When questioned by the fifth estate the justice
minister at the time, Bob Mitchell, claims that
he didn't know the case was unraveling. "I
am hearing this for the first time, that there was
these doubts or these concerns." And the crown
prosecutor Bruce Bauer could not comment.
Some of the wrongly accused are suing the Saskatchewan
government for malicious prosecution. Last summer
the province finally settled with former police
officer John Popowich.
He received 1.3 million dollars. (read
a letter of apology written by Justice Minister
Chris Axworthy) Other cases are still before
the courts.
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