A former Cornwall police officer has been found guilty of contempt of court after refusing to testify as a key witness before a public inquiry into sexual abuse allegations in the eastern Ontario community.

An Ontario divisional court ruled against former police investigator Perry Dunlop in a Toronto courtroom on Monday, and ordered him to appear before the commission on Jan. 14, 2008, to answer its questions.

Perry Dunlop, shown here after he first refused to testify in September, has been given a court order to answer the Cornwall commission's questions in January.
(CBC)

The provincial inquiry is looking into the way sexual abuse allegations made in the Cornwall area over decades were handled by authorities.

Dunlop was subpoenaed by the inquiry to testify about his key role in the police probe into the allegations.

On occasions in September and October, he refused, saying he had no faith in the justice system or the mandate of the inquiry.

Peter Engelmann, lead counsel for the commission, said Dunlop made those arguments again at his contempt hearing.

"The court found that was not a lawful excuse and that he should just testify," Engelmann said.

"It's important to the inquiry because of a concern that we had about respect and the rule of law," he added.

"Mr. Dunlop was identified as a very important witness for the inquiry.… His evidence is relevant to our mandate, and as you've heard from the court, it touches upon many of the issues that we're looking at."

Engelmann said Dunlop's testimony is needed to clear up inconsistencies in the notes and documents he provided.

He added that if Dunlop co-operates and testifies in January, he could avoid punishment.

Dunlop has expressed concern over the way he might be cross-examined by the commission's lawyers, who have already faced complaints about their forceful questioning of other witnesses.

John McDonald, who has testified before the inquiry, saying he was abused, said it wasn't a good experience and Dunlop shouldn't be forced to go through it.

"If he doesn't want to testify, he doesn't want to testify," McDonald said. "And if that's the stand he's taking, good for him."

Dunlop's key role in the investigation began in 1993, when he overheard two police sergeants talking about $32,000 that the Catholic Church paid a former alter boy in exchange for his agreement to drop a sexual abuse complaint against a priest and a probation officer.

Dunlop handed the complaint to the Children's Aid Society, which pursued the investigation, and Dunlop was later disciplined for his actions.

The complaint came amid rumours that a pedophile ring had been operating in the community, and eventually led to a four-year Ontario Provincial Police investigation called Project Truth involving dozens of allegations of sexual abuse in incidents dating back to the 1950s.

That resulted in charges against 15 people, including some prominent members of the community such as priests and probation officers. However, police found no evidence of an organized pedophile ring and only a handful of men were convicted in Project Truth or other related investigations.

That led to calls for a public inquiry into how authorities handled the cases, and the Cornwall Public Inquiry opened in February 2006.