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Mugshots: Putting the face on the victims
of malice
These are the photos
taken by the Saskatoon Police identification unit on July, 16
after the six Red Deer Klassens had spent six days in remand
and were then transported by police van to Saskatoon.
Those living in Saskatoon
were photographed and finger-printed in Saskatoon and then released.
When Richard Klassen and I
launched this site in 1998, five years after the civil claim
had been laid, he and his wife Kari were the only members of
the falsely accused group who were prepard to go public. It was
not "comfortable" but they did it as a first step to
getting their names cleared.
Richard and Kari had demonstrated
with picket signs and handed out leaflets. They received some
local publicity in 1993. The media was not allowed to use their
names, though. And as Judge Baynton's 189 decision so clearly
shows, there were so many aspects to the case that, combined
with the sealing of the evidence, reporters threw up their hands
in frustration. In 1995, Dave Roberts from the Globe and Mail
did a large piece, accompanied
by a hand-drawn illustration, which put Saskatoon on the map
as a place where people were being falsely charged. Four years
later, Dan Zakreski who was a Senior Reporter for the StarPhoenix
also did feature
which occupied the entire front page as well as a special section.
He used pseudenyms to get around the publication ban.
By this time, two of the three
Ross children had recanted their testimony. The feature was well-researched
and hard-hitting. A week after it had been out, I called Dan
to see what the response had been. He replied that it was more
or less a dull thud -- not a single person wrote to the editor.
No one approached him to congratulate him for the ambitious piece.
It was clear that the public was not interested in faceless pseudenyms.
The website was breaking the
publication bans, insofar as we published Richard 
Klassen's name and the names
of the children (Michelle and Michael had no problem with that,
and because her name was out there, Kathy was able to eventually
re-unite with them. Social Services had moved Kathy to B.C. and
when she asked Social worker Diane Ens about Michelle and Michael,
she was told that Michael might be dead and that Michelle was
working as a hooker.)
From Judge
Baynton's Decision
". . . As indicated previously,
the arrests of the plaintiffs and the apprehension of their children
were orchestrated by Dueck and Social Services well in advance
of the planned charges
and arrests and long before Dueck travelled to Red Deer, Alberta
to interview the plaintiffs who lived there. It was only because
the plaintiffs and their children who resided in Red Deer were
outside the jurisdiction of Saskatchewan Social Services, that
the assistance of Alberta Family Services personnel in Red Deer
had to be secured. The six plaintiffs who lived in Red Deer were
arrested on July 10, 1991.
"The trauma associated
with the arrest of Richard and Kari Klassen from their homes
was accentuated by the stress of seeing their children apprehended
from them by Alberta Family Services. It was also an emotional
experience for Dale Klassen when he was arrested at his home
and his three children were taken from him. Anita Klassen was
arrested at her place of employment. John and Myrna Klassen were
arrested at their home after their children had left for an outing
with friends. During the time these three couples were remanded
in custody in Red Deer for six days, the wives were held together
and the husbands were held together. The three couples were all
returned to Saskatoon where they spent another night in custody
before being released on bail. They then had to find a means
of getting back home to reconnect with their children who had
been placed into foster care.
"Some of the six Red Deer
plaintiffs testified that they were well treated while in custody
in Red Deer but were given a much "cooler" reception
by the police in Saskatoon by being treated with contempt and
being placed for the night in a cold cell without a bunk.
 "
(Marie Klassen,
mother of injusticebusters,above)
The remaining six Saskatoon
plaintiffs, Pamela Sharpe, Marie Klassen and the four Kvellos,
were also arrested on July 10, 1991. They too suffered the humiliation
and trauma of being arrested. Marie Klassen had to be taken to
the police station in her wheelchair. She is now deceased and
the desire that she carried to her grave was that she and her
sons and daughters-in-law would be exonerated of the criminal
charges in the eyes of
the public. Dennis Kvello is also now deceased. The proceedings
affected him so deeply that he had his company switch him from
his position as a residential electrician to one as a commercial
electrician so that he could avoid coming in contact with any
children. He was no longer able to touch his own children and
lost the desire to have sexual relations with his wife, circumstances
that continued until his death." (pp. 80-81)
Richard Klassen
and Pam Shetterly (Richard's older sister) have both told the
media that their mother's last wish was to have them continue
the fight to clear their name.
Yesterday on
the John Gormley show, Pamela phoned in to describe how, when
Dueck took her on the elevator to be processed, that he pointed
to the word "hell" which was scratched into the elevator
door and told her that was where she was going. Since that time
he has tried to make good on that threat. Pamela was a foster
mother who had looked after many drug-addicted babies for Social
Services. She adopted one of them.
After the arrests
Pamela's adopted child was taken from her and she went through
a series of psychiatric "disorders" which required
long periods of hospitalization. When she found out Mikey would
not be returned to her, she attempted suicide, was hospitalized
and a hysterectomy was performed on her. She was doubly devastated
by learning that she would not be able to have children through
either adoption or natural means. Her weight fell to less than
a hundred pounds.
Today, on the John Gormley
show, Diane Kvello spoke publicly and identified herself for
the first time. She told the public how pleased she was with
the judgment and spoke about how after everyone in her family
was charged, she and her husband had stopped hugging their own
children and that she was afraid to go out in public by herself,
feeling that she needed a witness to her every move in case a
false allegation was again made against her. Former neighbours
of the Kvellos had testified at te civil trial. One testified
that she and Diane had been best friends, but that after Dueck
visited them and warned them "they would be safer"
to not have any further contact with the Kvellos. In the meantime,
Dennis died, at the age of 52, the last few years of his life
compounded by stress. An electrician, he stopped doing residential
jobs for fear he might encounter children, and worked only commercial
jobs.
Judge Baynton clearly stated
that there was no reasonable cause to think that any of these
people had ever abused children at any time.
This is the human face of the
malicious prosecution.
It is incredible that the government
of Saskatchewan has chosen to continue maliciously.
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
