The justice system fed the victims of the ‘child prison’

Thoughts of Mac—Claude McIntosh

In June 1969, a dozen members of the Cornwall Police Department, accompanied by a town magistrate, hosted the annual law enforcement day at St. Joseph’s in Alfred, just east of Ottawa.

The school, run by the Roman Catholic Christian Brothers, housed about 200 boys between the ages of 8 and 16, all referred to the institution by the Ontario court system. On this day, nine of the boys – aged nine to 12 – were referred by Cornwall’s juvenile justice system. In most cases, they were convicted of minor crimes and classified as uncontrollable offenders.

The photos that accompanied the story in the Standard-Freeholder were of smiling young faces and quotes from Cornwall police and the local juvenile judge about the wonderful work the Brothers were doing to rehabilitate young people.

The Brother in Charge spoke of a “father-son relationship” between the Brothers and the boys. He called it a “family-type setting.”

Four years later, the school was closed and 16 members of the order were convicted of physically and sexually abusing young residents in their care. One of the convicted perverts was the brother who spoke of the “family type setting”.

One former resident described the place as a “children’s prison”.

The brothers weren’t supposed to go out looking for young victims. The Cornwall Juvenile Court – along with others across the province – left them at the front door.

There is no record of public remorse from local justice and court officials who, albeit unwittingly, helped provide the corrupt school with a steady stream of vulnerable victims.

Why didn’t any of the victims take one of the cops or the judge aside in the field days and tell them what was going on?

“Why would they take our word over that of the so-called men of God?” asked a former resident. “They (the police and the judge) were the ones who sent us there.”

The threat of spending several days in solitary confinement (a four-by-six-foot cell with a steel bed) for “lying” to officials dissuaded residents from exposing the perverts.

A veteran OPP detective who was part of the team that investigated the Brothers said that when it came to the guy responsible, he had never interviewed a colder, more arrogant and defiant sexual predator.

“He had that ‘how dare you’ attitude,” he said. “It was ice cold.”

AND THIS MONTH IN 1969: Peter Oaks, who was among the 16 Mohawk ironworkers who survived the 1898 Cornwall International Bridge collapse, has died at age 93. The collapse during the construction of the span killed 22 steelworkers, mostly from Akwesasne. … Courtaulds (Canada) has announced that it is closing its rayon and yarn spinning operations. It would mean the loss of 650 jobs. … St. Michael’s Academy, administered by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart for 16 years, held its final graduation. Debbie Adams became the graduation final. … Annette Bourdon was crowned Queen of La Semaine Francaise. … Teachers at the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Separate School Board have been offered a 16% pay rise over the course of a year. The new salary range, based on tenure and education, was $7,600 to $10,100. … St. John Bosco Parish celebrated the 25th anniversary of its parish priest Fr. Aime Leduc. He became the second vicar of the parish in 1965. … Natives of Cornwall Michael Johnson and Gerry Guindohe did not graduate from the Royal Military College (RMC). … Const. Arnold O’Malley resigned from the Cornwall Police Department to start a security company known as O’Malley Security. He proposed the idea of ​​using security guards to assist city police in routine tasks such as traffic control and parking enforcement. He noted that it would save the police department money. Two years earlier, O’Malley made national news for catching off-duty speeders. … Allan Campbell has been appointed superintendent of the Ontario Provincial Police District 11 headquarters in Long Sault. He came to the area from London. … The fire destroyed Finch Arena. … The National Indian Brotherhood criticized the federal policy introduced by the Indian Affairs Minister Jean Chretien to make native people “Citizens of Canada like other Canadians”. The policy was seen as an erosion of rights that made “Native peoples more than just citizens of Canada”. The leaders called it “cultural genocide”. … Cornwall Minor Football Association records reach 100. Games played at Alexander Park. … The second annual induction into the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame saw 51 new members. … Ron McAllister cut his brother, Alex, by one stroke to win the 12th annual O’Keefe Tournament at Cornwall Golf and Country Club. … Chuck Li scored four times and had six assists to lead the Oshawa Green Gaels to a 28-11 victory over the Peterborough Teepees in junior Ontario Lacrosse Association play. Li played with the Cornwall Wildcats before moving to the Gaels. … Kevin McMillan and sandy O’Neill each home run over the fence as Courtaulds defeated Domtar 5-2 in a North End Fastball League game at King George Park. … With enrollment increasing, 30 new teachers were hired for General Vanier Secondary School, bringing the number of teachers to 90 out of 75. The new building opened in 1967. The new teachers came from Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia , Quebec and British Columbia.

TRIVIA It ended its life in 1973 as the Gordon Ice Factory, but in 1907 a building at Augustus and Water Streets was: 1) Canadian Steamship Depot, 2) Barrel Factory, 3) Factory of furniture, 4) brewery, 5) blacksmith. .

TRIVIA ANSWER In his autobiography From Lawbreaker to Lawmaker, former Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry MP Guy Lauzon told how he had a side job selling Fuller Brush products and Electrolux vacuum cleaners while working at Courtaulds.

QUOTE How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? – Satchell Paige, baseball legend