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THE fifth estate: Hell to Pay
The Satanic Sex Scandal> Printer Version
Broadcast
February 12, 2003
The
Stakeout
In the dead of night
on April 24, 1992 Constable Mike Swan and his partner were on high alert.
Their chief of police, Mike Johnston, had gotten a tip. He believed that
a gang with ties to the occult was coming to Martensville and that terrible
things - possibly even a human sacrifice - could happen. Swan remembers,
"he authorized us to go ahead and bring in our own guns and just
be heavily armed as possible. I've got to admit that I had never been
more scared in my life."
The Satanic gang never showed up. And by the light of day the threat seemed
bizarre.
The Beginning
The nightmare that descended on Martensville, Saskatchewan began when
a local mother had some grave suspicions. She worked as a nurse at a Saskatoon
hospital and left her kids with a babysitter only a few blocks from her
home.
Linda Sterling
had a houseful of kids ranging from infants to grade schoolers. Her husband,
Ron worked at a provincial jail and many of his friends were cops. It
seemed the perfect place for her children.
Her two year old daughter had a diaper rash, but the chafing and redness
around her genitals looked like something else. When she questioned her
daughter, the little girl said "a stranger poked at my bum with a
pink rope".
The
Investigation
Martensville town police took the mother's complaint and assigned their
newest constable, Claudia Bryden to investigate. She tracked down more
parents whose kids went to the Sterling home. At first the kids they interviewed
said that there was nothing going on.
But when Bryden teamed up with Saskatoon police officer Rod Moor frightening
details began to emerge. The kids said they were fondled and forced into
oral sex. That a vibrator was pushed up their bottoms and that guns were
used to threaten them. And it all happened at the Sterling home.
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Then one kid began to talk about a place that some of the children had been driven to - he called it a 'Devil Church'. A local pilot flying over town told police that he found a blue building only 6 kilometres northwest of town.
One child said that inside the 'Devil Church' he was stripped naked, hoisted in a cage and poked at. Another said that an axe handle was shoved up their bums. Several claimed they were stuffed in a freezer. They even said that they were sexually abused on a waterbed. The children claimed that they were threatened never to tell their parents.
The Cop Connection
As the investigation progressed the children started to say that they recalled uniforms and police cars. From photos the kids picked out police officers from three different forces who they said were also involved.
By the spring of 1992 Martensville was reeling with rumours about a Satanic cult called The Brotherhood of The Ram that had police officers as members. It was an explosive situation and the Martensville police were under tremendous pressure to do something about it.
The
First Arrests
In June 1992 they rounded up the babysitter, Linda Sterling and her husband
Ron. A young offender and their 23 year old son, Travis were picked up
later the same day.
Five cops were also arrested. One of them, John Popowich went from a police
officer to a pedophile in just one hour.
In all nine people were accused of the most horrible acts against children.
It was such a sensation that even the Premier, Roy Romanow headed to Martensville.
CLAUDIA BRYDEN
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Claudia
Bryden is a former RCMP graduate who trained in Regina and served briefly
in Gimli, Manitoba before leaving the federal service to marry a Saskatoon
police officer. She went on to work for the Martensville police department
in 1991 and had seven months policing experience when she took the sexual
abuse complaint file that triggered the larger investigation.
Later on she was one of the key people blamed for the runaway investigation.
But in an interview with the fifth estate she says she did ask for help.
"The fact that I sought by supervisior's assistance and advice throughout
the investigation has been a part of the public record now for a very
long time. It's very clear that I did ask for help." But she wasn't
prepared to talk further about what went wrong.
Claudia Bryden was laid off on 1993 when the department disbanded. She
now works part-time for the Corman Park Police Service, in Saskatoon and
lives with her husband and children on an acreage west of the city.
JOHN POPOWICH
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John Popowich
was born in Yorkton, Sask in 1946 and joined the Saskatoon Police Service
in 1973. He worked as a beat officer, in the traffic section and undercover
in the drug squad through his career. He also worked as a firearms instructor.
He held the rank of corporal when he was charged during the Martensville
investigation.
He says he will never forget the day that he was named as a child abuser.
"Once you're fingered as a sexual pervert or a predator of any kind,
anything to do with kids and sexual assaults, you're dust. Doesn't matter
what happens."
He maintained his innocence throughout, saying he had never been to the
community more than twice in his entire life. But the stigma was so severe
he couldn't even hold children in his own home. "You'd sit there
and watch TV in the afternoon or night and you'd turn the venetians right
down so no one could see in. I was so scared of people watching or listening
that the girls weren't even allowed to sit on my knee to watch TV like
we normally did."
The charges against Popowich were stayed when the children who testified
couldn't pick him out of the courtroom. The judge ruled that it was a
case of mistaken identity.
Although he was found innocent, Popowich ended up in the hospital with
a breakdown and never returned to police work. He lost an eye when attacked
in a restaurant after his charges were stayed. He lives in Saskatoon.
Last summer the Saskatchewan government awarded him 1.3 million dollars
for malicious prosecution in the Martensville case. Read
a letter from Justice Minister Chris Axworthy.
RON AND LINDA STERLING
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At the time
of the Martensville investigation, Ron Sterling worked as assistant deputy
director of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre and as a volunteer firefighter.
Linda operated a private daycare from their home.
The Sterlings became pariahs the day the rumours of abuse started.
Ron
was suspended without pay after the charges were laid and never did return
to work for the province. His father died of a heart attack the day that
the trial started.
"This is one of the most terrible charges you can face. It's even
worse than murder...How do you get over something like this? I know I
didn't do anything wrong. Our lives are gone. Our reputation is gone.
My job is gone," say Ron Sterling.
Their son, Travis Sterling was the only one convicted of sexual abuse
in the Martensville case. Ron Sterling believes that his son is innocent.
"I know he didn't do anything. And I know my family did nothing wrong.
How do I prove it? I can't. You're just going to have to believe me."
The couple eventually lost their home in Martensville because of the fallout
from the charges. Ron and son Travis briefly operated a signmaking business
in Prince Albert after their legal battle, but that failed. They still
live in Prince Albert, where Ron drives taxi. Linda is a homemaker.
They claim they will never escape the stigma of being charged with sexual
abuse. "You're not anonymous anywhere. It doesn't matter where we
go. There's always somebody who will stop and stare, point a finger."
CBC:
the fifth estate - Hell to Pay
The Martensville
"Satanic Sex Scandal"
A Police Task Force Uncovers the Truth
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