The former Cornwall police officer whose investigations sparked an inquiry into allegations of systemic sex abuse in the eastern Ontario town will go to jail for six months for refusing to testify at the inquiry.

Perry Dunlop, who now lives in Duncan, B.C., is considered a central figure in the inquiry because of an off-duty investigation he started during the 1990s.

Murmurs of "shame, shame" were heard from Dunlop's supporters in the public gallery Wednesday as he was led out of a Toronto Divisional Court, flanked by four police officers, his hands in shackles.

Outside, his wife Helen left without commenting on the sentence.

Dunlop has stuck to his belief that the Cornwall inquiry isn't going to get to the bottom of a cover-up of reports that allege a group of pedophiles operated with impunity in the community.

His off-hours investigation in 1993 of the alleged pedophile ring — clergy, politicians and business leaders were accused of bizarre sexual rituals with young boys — prompted a police probe.

Police investigations, including the high-profile Ontario Provincial Police probe Project Truth, yielded more than 100 charges against more than two dozen men. Only a handful of them were convicted, and police found no evidence of an organized ring of pedophiles.

 In 2005, Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed Justice Normand Glaude to conduct a public inquiry into the allegations.

Justice Glaude wants to hear Dunlop's story.

Wednesday's six-month sentence is for civil contempt, which Dunlop was found guilty of after appearing at the inquiry in September, but refusing to answer questions.

Late last year, Divisional Court ordered Dunlop to appear at the commission. Instead, he went on a media tour, stating publicly that he had no intention of testifying.

For that, on Wednesday, the court also found him guilty of criminal contempt.

He has not been sentenced on that conviction.

Justice Lee Ferrier said sentencing for that will take place after Dunlop serves his six-month sentence for civil contempt.

However, he added, if Dunlop agreed to testify at the inquiry that would have an impact on the sentencing.

He also said his six-month sentence could be purged if he testified, and he could be freed from jail.