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STORY
UPDATE
The
allegations against Richard Klassen and his family
were devastating. To his astonishment the Saskatchewan
government refused to acknowledge the kids' retractions.
He was still labelled as a sex offender and child
molester.
Klassen became obsessed with reversing the legal
injustice. First he started protesting, then he
became his own lawyer and started filing motions.
He and social activist Sheila Steele developed their
own website,
Injusticebusters and started collecting evidence
to support his story. He filed a $10 million lawsuit
against the Saskatchewan government in 1994.
On December 30, 2003 the Klassens had finally won
their case. The judge ruled that they had in fact
been victims of malicious prosecution. It was an
unqualified vindication, at last.
Amazingly, after all the turmoil that the Ross children
caused for his family, Richard Klassen refuses to
blame them for what happened, especially the girls.
Richard Klassen: You
can't help but feel for them. They have nothing.
The experience has taken a large toll on Klassen.
He's been addicted to sleeping pills and anti-depressants
and says he is subject to self-destructive mood
swings. Two years ago he found out he had prostate
cancer but postponed the treatment until after the
trial.
Richard
Klassen:
I went too far. It become an obsession that affected
my family, it affected my life, affected my brain,
affected me.
The Saskatchewan government is appealing the decision
saying the judgment stretched the boundaries of
malicious prosecution too far. But the wrongly accused
have been granted an interim payment of 1.5 million
in the meantime.
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