RCMP Watch

Mary Moszynski, Fredericton, NB (Canadaeast News Service) - An independent report examining the infamous Kingsclear sexual abuse scandal says there is no evidence RCMP attempted a cover-up for a member of its own force who faced allegations of criminal activity.

However the report highlighted a number of shortcomings in the RCMP’s investigations, including shoddy note-taking and a lack of due diligence by senior officials, that contributed to the public perception of a cover-up.The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP launched its investigation in 2004 to determine whether the force properly investigated allegations of sexual abuse by staff at the training school near Fredericton and whether the RCMP created a cover-up for retired Staff Sgt. Clifford McCann.

“We are satisfied there is no substantiated evidence that members of the RCMP attempted to cover-up alleged criminal actions of retired Staff Sgt. Clifford McCann or of sexual and physical assaults by former New Brunswick training school custodial and supervisory staff,” said commission chairman Paul Kennedy.

“We did find, however, that there were inadequacies in the RCMP’s criminal investigation of both the staff at the school and Staff Sgt. McCann.”

McCann, who used to work with the boys at Kingsclear, has denied all allegations against him and was never charged following an investigation by New Brunswick RCMP.

Four former Kingsclear residents have since filed a civil lawsuit against McCann, who refused to be interviewed by the complaints commission. Two RCMP officers also refused to be interviewed.

Kingsclear is a dark chapter in New Brunswick’s history that has been the source of rumours and innuendoes. Three people were charged in connection to abuse at the school and two were convicted, including Karl Toft who pled guilty to 34 counts in 1992 and was sentenced to 13 years in jail.

There have been allegations from victims that more individuals connected to the facility were involved in the abuse of hundreds of boys over a 20-year span.

The commission interviewed 150 people for the report and had a budget of about $3 million.

Kennedy said the report shows a lack of resources and the lack of involvement of senior officers created several obstacles and shortcomings throughout the Kingsclear investigations.

The report also recommends the RCMP should not investigate its own force but rather an outside police force or team of RCMP officers should be called in to limit the perception of bias.

“It should be somewhere else to give not only real partiality but also to address the perception of impartiality,” said Kennedy.

It also highlights two interviews conducted with McCann that failed to follow procedure and present several problems.

The first interview was in 1992 and was conducted by an officer of a lower rank who failed to keep detailed notes of the interview conducted in McCann’s own office.

A second interview took place in 1998 in McCann’s living room with his wife present - an unusual setting for such a meeting. Neither officer took any detailed notes and both have vividly different accounts of what happened during that second meeting, states the report.

Although mistakes were made during the RCMP investigation, Kennedy stressed the lack of note-taking and other shortcomings aren’t proof of an attempted cover-up.

“If you’re covering up, you don’t go out and you don’t interview witnesses and track them down across the country and find collaboration,” Kennedy said. “That was all being done.” Chief Superintendent Mike Woods of the RCMP in Ottawa said the report “clearly concludes there was no cover-up of any nature.” He also said the RCMP has already taken steps to work on a number of the recommendations outlined in the report, including a new policy regarding criminal investigations within the force.

Commanding officers have the authority to bring in an outside agency to investigate if necessary, he said. As well, if the review is done internally, the force can opt to have a third-party review the investigation, Woods added.

However the report disappointed John Fearon, an outspoken former Kingsclear resident who claims he was abused at the facility.

Fearon, who has been calling for a public inquiry, announced he plans to run federally in Fredericton as an independent candidate in the next election. Fearon said none of the recommendations outlined in the report will help the victims.

“We weren’t criminals, we didn’t have long records, on drugs or any of those things. We were supposedly in a place of protection, the New Brunswick training school,” he said. “Well, it wasn’t a place of protection, it was a place of hell.”

Bill Gilmour, Fearon’s lawyer, said although officers were given some degree of protection to come forward with information, others refused to come forward in fear they would lose their jobs.

“All the evidence was not made available to them,” he said.

Justice Minister T.J. Burke said if members of the public or the RCMP have any new compelling evidence they should come forward with the information.