Bishop's sex charges stayed

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Sex charges against a high-ranking Catholic bishop have been stayed by a British Columbia court, touching off a storm of protest and demands that the disgraced priest be excommunicated.

Native and non-Native leaders have joined the chorus of disapproval, calling for ministerial reviews and public inquiries into the province's handling of the case.

"It appears our system has failed, not only for the accused but definitely for the victims," said Walter Cobb, mayor or Williams Lake, where Bishop Hubert O'Connor was principal of a residential school.

O'Connor is the highest ranking Catholic official in Canada to be charged with sex abuse. He was accused of raping two female employees and indecently assaulting two female students at the now-defunct St. Joseph's school during the 1960s. All four alleged victims are Native.

The charges against O'Connor were effectively dropped when a B.C. Supreme Court Judge halted the trial after discovering prosecutors had not shown all the evidence against O'Connor to the defence.

A special prosecutor has been appointed to review the stay of proceedings, which could equal an acquittal if the charges are not resurrected within a year. Colin Gableman, the province's attorney general, said no action will be taken on the case until the special prosecutor decides whether it is possible to appeal the stay order.

Much of the recent criticism has been levelled at Crown lawyer Gregory Jones. Four chiefs sent a letter to Gableman before the stay order complaining about the prosecutors' handling of the case.

Even Justice Allan Thackery, who was hearing the case, raised doubts about Jones' arguments for continuing with the case after learning not all documents gathered for the trial had been shown to the defence.

"It was difficult...to get Mr. Jones to state the Crown's position on the (stay) motion. As best as I can understand it, it almost amounted to a concession or an invitation to the court to grant a stay of proceedings. The Crown has admitted failings in its legal obligations in this case," he said.

Jones, however, said he acted properly and has nothing "to be ashamed of."

Native leaders have expressed shock and anger in the wake of the court's decision. Saul Terry, head of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, wants O'Connor defrocked and excommunicated by the Pope.

Charlene Belleau, a social development adviser to the Cariboo Tribal Council, called development traumatic "not only to the complainants, but also to our leadership."

Cariboo band spokesman Bev Sellars said the stay order does not mean the case

is over. She promised to raise the issue with a special inquiry looking into how the justice system treats Natives in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region.

O'Connor still faces a civil lawsuit in which six women allege they were sexually assaulted by him between 1962 and 1967 while he was the school principal.

Adam Exner, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver, said he regrets the suffering that O'Connor's alleged actions have brought on the community. He said the church has taken steps to review the case and that O'Connor's future in the church will

be decided by the Pope.