Martensville Saga Ends

Martensville saga ends Lawsuit settlementsreached; ex-officersget total of $460,000 James Wood, The StarPhoenix Published: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 REGINA -- Nearly 14 years after charges were laid over shocking allegations of child sexual abuse in Martensville that drew worldwide attention to the small town, the provincial government has reached settlements in the last two outstanding malicious prosecution lawsuits connected to the flawed case. The government will pay former Martensville police constable James Elstad $142,500 as part of a $285,000 settlement. The town's former police chief, Edward Revesz, will get $87,500 from the province out of a $175,000 settlement. The other part of each settlement will be paid by the now-defunct Martensville police service and the Saskatoon Police Service or their insurers. "No amount of money will ever compensate any of the plaintiffs in the Martensville case," said Revesz's lawyer, William Roe, from Saskatoon. "They were charged with probably, from society's viewpoint, the most serious type of offence that can be alleged against a person. I mean, sexual assault, sexual intercourse with children and then add in the abuse element and the whole Satanism aspect, I think we've forgotten just how chilling those allegations were," Roe said. "They were outlandish but they were also horrific and I don't think any amount of money will compensate any of them ever for the pain and suffering they went through." Both of the plaintiffs, who live in Saskatoon, did not respond to interview requests made through their lawyers. No adequate compensation Richard Gabruch, Elstad's lawyer, said his client is relieved by the settlement, but agreed there is no adequate compensation for the damage caused by the allegations. "The challenge is getting over the emotional hurdle related to that. However, this provides some closure on one facet of that and I think they do feel better, Jim and his family do feel better about moving forward now," Gabruch said. With the most recent agreements, the cost to the provincial government around the Martensville case now exceeds $2 million. The case stems from the early 1990s, when group home operators Ron and Linda Sterling, a youth and five police officers were charged with 180 criminal offences alleging ritual sex abuse against children at the Sterlings' day care in 1992. The plaintiffs were tried and acquitted on all charges. Charges against some of the police officers, including Elstad and Revesz, were stayed after the Sterling acquittals. "He was never convicted but he was also never exonerated so he fell into that difficult limbo area of the law where there may still be people who believe that the allegations were founded," Roe said of Revesz. The entire file yielded one conviction of sexual assault. The stories of murder, animal mutilation and Satanism made by children were proved unfounded and the methods of police and prosecutors came under heavy criticism. After the launch of lawsuits for malicious prosecution, the province paid $925,000 as part of a $1.3-million settlement reached in November 2004 with Ron and Linda Sterling and the plaintiff who was a youth at the time. One of the police officers, John Popowich, sued and in 2002 was awarded $1.3 million, with $800,000 coming from the province. RCMP officer Darren Sabourin received a $150,000 settlement a year ago, with the province paying $67,000 of that amount. The province has also paid $195,662 for outside counsel used in the lawsuits. Justice Minister Frank Quennell read a prepared statement on the most recent settlement outside a meeting of the provincial cabinet at the legislature Tuesday. He called the time of the Martensville investigation "a unique period in the history of the justice system throughout North America" when it came to dealing with issues around child sexual abuse. "Knowing what we know now about child victims and witnesses, a case with similar circumstances as this case would have been handled differently. This case has caused suffering and upheaval in the lives of many, many people for more than a decade. This is a truly regrettable situation and I extend my sympathies to Mr. Elstad and Mr. Revesz." The years since Martensville have seen such measures as the creation of the Regina Children's Justice Centre, "which does cutting edge work on the interviewing of victims, child victims of sexual abuse and child abuse for the country," Quennell said. "I think we've learned a great deal over the last 15 years about how to treat these cases." Quennell said he was glad the government was resolving the lawsuits, and when asked by reporters, said he did not think any purpose would be served by a public inquiry into the matter. Both lawyers for the plaintiffs said they also saw no reason for a public inquiry. Roe, who has practised criminal law for nearly 30 years, agreed with Quennell that the early 1990s was a different time in how investigations and prosecutions involving children were handled. "It didn't matter what a kid said, it didn't matter what kind of corroborating evidence there was, in all likelihood the child's evidence would be accepted," he said. [email protected] http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=9ec972d8-8782-41fc-ac78- ed9e29270ef9&k=48902&p=1 .

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