To be accused of sexually abusing children is to be tried, convicted and sentenced, all without the benefit of having your day in court. Even if such accusations are dismissed or unfounded, the stain remains for a long time, if not forever.
Such is the case for John Furlong, former CEO of the 91原创 Olympic Organizing Committee, who faced three lawsuits in B.C. Supreme Court alleging he had sexually abused students when he was a young volunteer teacher at an elementary school in northern B.C. Furlong has always maintained the allegations were false.
In December, Beverly Abraham, the first person to file a lawsuit against Furlong, dropped her case, saying she was under stress from recent deaths in her family. An RCMP investigation found nothing to support her claims. At the hearing in which Abraham鈥檚 suit was dismissed, the lawyer representing all three plaintiffs withdrew, and the remaining two plaintiffs made no move to hire a new lawyer.
In February, the court dismissed a sexual-abuse claim filed by Grace West in 2013, after it was determined West was not a student at the school in question at the time of the alleged abuse.
This week, the third claim, filed by a 54-year-old Prince George man, was dismissed after the man failed to appear in court. The judge said the man referred to evidence of photos that did not exist, had threatened to harm Furlong and showed disrespect to the court.
Furlong鈥檚 lawyer, Bill Smart, said the man had made similar allegations about being abused at another school and was awarded $138,000, even though documents suggest he did not attend that school.
Furlong said this week his 鈥渁lmost unimaginable nightmare鈥� is over, but irreversible damage has been done. The dismissals do not erase the months and years of suffering Furlong and his family have endured.
No evidence was ever presented that would have supported criminal charges. As 91原创 lawyer Matthew Nathanson wrote in the 91原创 Sun: 鈥淣o prosecutor in the province, let alone the world, would approve charges based on allegations of sexual abuse at schools which the complainants didn鈥檛 even attend at the time they said the abuse occurred.鈥�
However, there is no threshold of evidence required to file a civil suit. A frivolous or groundless case might not make it to court, but the mere filing of a claim makes an allegation a matter of public record.
And when the allegations are of sexual abuse of children, the accused faces instant repercussions. Friendships and family relationships can be damaged or destroyed, reputations and careers can be ruined, the absence of evidence notwithstanding.
The damage extends beyond Furlong and his family. These false allegations demean the suffering of real victims of abuse. It makes it more difficult for vulnerable people to step forward if they have been abused by figures of authority. It mocks the legal system that is supposed to help victims find justice and compensation.
One of the fundamental principles of our justice system is that it must operate publicly, so that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done. Another fundamental is that an accused is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
But in the court of public opinion, that principle is too often ignored.
