John Kenneth Gordon Seguin

 

DOB:   07 February 1944 Raised within the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, Ontario.  Lived in St. Andrew’s West. Schools: Island Public School and the Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School.

One year at Cornwall Classical College prior to entering seminary (to improve his French)

1967:  Bachelor of Arts from University of Ottawa, Ontario and a Bachelor of Philosophy from St. Paul University. St. Paul’s was then a seminary affiliated with Ottawa U.

(Father Charles MacDonald and Ken Seguin’s time as seminarians a St. Paul’s overlapped.  Father Charles entered the seminary around 1963 at age 30 and was ordained 1969. Seguin and Charlie were said to have engaged in a homosexual relationship.  Whether this commenced before or after their days at St. Paul’s in unknown) 

1968: studied Theology at St. Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario.

January ’68: applied for position as a probation officer in Cornwall

20 February 1968:  offered a position as a Group 1 probation.

10 June 1968:  V.M. Marks, Area Probation Supervisor, announced Seguin’s appointment as a probation officer with primary responsibility in juvenile court, noting Seguin’s studies into the causes of deviant behaviour of deprived juveniles.

 01 June 1969: Promoted to Probation Officer Group 2

1970: residence  1345 3rd Street East, Apartment 101, in Cornwall.

[worked primarily in the Cornwall area, but did have some additional responsibilities outside of Cornwall. In 1971, he worked out of an office in Chesterville twice a week and, in or around the end of 1972, he worked in the Prescott area and assumed responsibility for 10 cases in the area.

November 1970: R.S. Tear noted in her supervision report that Seguin:  “…works hard with his cases and is not afraid of enforcing the order.  However, on occasion, he is inclined to let his sympathy for the probationer overrule his discretion as a probation officer.”

In Prescott, he temporarily assumed the preparation of Prescott Criminal Division Court pre-sentence reports for new probationers, having assumed responsibility for 10 existing cases in that area.

A record indicates that between January and June 1972 he took a trip to Florida

September 1975: Moved to 1758 Alguire Street, Cornwall, Ontario.

Employee report for April 1981 to May 1982 by P.H. Sirrs:  “In his approach with clients, Mr. Seguin is very humanistic, too much so perhaps, although he seems to achieve a rapport with results that are not usually associated with other approaches. Mr. Seguin agrees he could develop an increased firmness in dealing with clients which should not impair these other valued qualities.”

25 January 1985: L.V. White recommended Seguin for position of area manager.  White described Seguin as “A warm human being with an excellent force in interpersonal relationships.”

White further noted that he: “…had occasion to meet a couple of lawyers, the acting Crown attorney and other businesspeople in Cornwall and was amazed at the esteem in which these people hold Ken Seguin.”

14 November 1985: after a case audit of some of Seguin’s files Emile Roy sent a memo to Seguin which read in part:

“Case notes not being completed or initialed in some instances; the absence of legal warnings and explanations to clients; the absence of supervision plans being included during initial interviews with clients and the lack of recording of the review of conditions with clients.”

30 May 1986:  Purchased a waterfront property in Summerstown (see picture above)

07 February 1989: Seguin co-signed a loan for probationer Gerald Renshaw.

10 March 1989: Seguin wrote to his supervisor Emile Robert, advising him that, in accordance with Ministry policies and procedures, as of March 11th, he would be renting a room in his home to Gerald Renshaw who had been under Seguin’s supervision from October of 1984 to April of 1986. On 07 April 1989 permission. During a 2000 police investigation Emile Robert (Regional Manager at the time) said that permission was granted on condition Seguin report any change in Renshaw’s circumstances and should that happen a review would be conducted. {Gerry Renshaw testified he moved in with Seguin late 1988 and lived there for about 18 months)

08 January 1992:  In the evening one of Seguin’s clients and three other young males visited Seguin’s residence.

09 January 1992: At approximately 4:00 one of the males who had earlier attended Seguin’s residence fatally shot another of the males. He was later convicted of manslaughter.

In an interview by Detective Constable R.L. Miller of the Ontario Provincial Police in relation to the events leading up to the shooting Seguin advised that he had given the young males beer while they were at his residence and that he didn’t make a habit of having clients at his residence.

16 January 1992:  Seguin submitted a Ministry of Correctional Services Incident Report in relation to the shooting incident.

According to the ODE:

In the report he described that the young males had attended his residence and noted that the family of the alleged shooter lived nearby and was known to him on a casual basis.

He indicated that the males had arrived unannounced and uninvited and that he had attempted to proceed quickly and professionally with the concern at  hand; that his probation client was to attend for his pre-sentence report interview the next day, in relation to a break, enter and theft occurrence and was agitated and concerned about the possible outcome of his court case.

In the report Seguin described how he had advised his probation clients that he could not address his concerns properly before seeing the file and that it would be best discussed at the office the following day.

Seguin added that the males left after he had advised them to get the probation client home, so he wouldn’t be breaching his curfew.

Seguin wrote that the next day, his probation client advised him that after the males had dropped him off they had gone to a hotel and then to the residence where the shooting had occurred.”

The alleged shooter was being detained on a charge of second-degree murder.

10 November 1992:  Seguin met with Emile Robert in relation to the homicide.

According to the ODE Seguin received a memorandum from Robert indicating that it was:

“Improper to allow Ministry clients to visit your residents and to offer them alcoholic beverages.”

A copy of the Ministry policy on employee contact with offenders/ex-offenders was enclosed. Seguin was warned if a similar situation should arise disciplinary action could be imposed.

09 December 1992:  David Silmser reported to the Cornwall Police Service that he had been sexually abused by Ken Seguin and Father Charles MacDonald.

16 February 1993 Silmser gave police a statement re his sex abuse allegations against Father MacDonald and Seguin.

24 August 1993 and twice on 15 November 1993 Seguin purportedly wrote three “statements” which, according to the ODE,”set out some contacts Seguin allegedly had with Silmser.”

02 or 03 September 1993: David Silmser signed the illegal $32,000 pay-off with the diocese/Bishop Eugene Larocque and Father Charles MacDonald.  Lawyer and former Crown attorney Malcolm MacDonald represented Father MacDonald’s interests.  Jacques Leduc represented the diocese.  Cornwall lawyer Sean Adams was retained to explain the terms of the agreement to Silmser. (See Part 1 on Perry Dunlop’s Will State for further details) 

25 September 1993: Constable Perry Dunlop first learned of a pay-off and that the Cornwall Police Service has terminated an investigation into sex abuse allegations against Father Charles MacDonald and Ken Seguin.

26 to 30 September 1993: Perry Dunlop first told Richard Abel of the local Children’s Aid Society (CAS) about the sex abuse allegations, then showed Abel a copy of David Silmser’s victim statement, then, on the 30^th, provided Abel with a copy of the statement.

02 November 1993: David Silmser interviewed by CAS personnel.  Silmser tells them he was molested by Seguin, Father MacDonald and Roman Catholic school teacher Marcel Lalonde.

15 November 1993: According to lawyer and former Cornwall Crown attorney Malcolm MacDonald Seguin approached him and discussed the Silmser allegations.  Malcolm asked that Seguin provide “some documentation as to his story and to document the times he received calls from Silmser.”

25 November 1993: Seguin committed suicide. His body was found by Ron Leroux.

26 November 1993: David Silmser tells OPP Detective  Constables R. Miller and C. MacDonnell that he had a number of telephone conversations with Malcolm MacDonald and Seguin to discuss a financial settlement in the days preceding Seguin’s death. The last of these calls occurred that morning when he spoke to Malcolm MacDonald and was advised of Seguin’s death.

According to the Coroner’s Investigation Statement completed by Coroner D. Conway,M.D. Seguin had committed suicide and had had episodes of depression.