March–April Toronto There were calls […]

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When

1976-03 – 1976-04

Description

March–April Toronto There were calls in the Ontario Legislature from both opposition parties, led by MPPs Michael Cassidy (NDP –Ottawa-Centre), Albert Roy (Lib.–Ottawa East), and Vernon Singer (Lib.–Toronto Wilson Heights), for a judicial inquiry into the handling of the "Ottawa Sex Scandal" case by Ottawa's morality squad. This related to the case of Michel Gravel, arrested on March 3, 1975, for operating two male-modelling agencies that were used as a front for a prostitution service involving teenage boys. Seventeen other men were also arrested and charged with contributing to juvenile delinquency, gross indecency, or buggery. None of the youths were charged. The media had sensationalized the "Ottawa Sex Scandal," calling it a "white slavery ring" and a "homosexual vice ring." The names, ages, addresses, and occupations of the arrested men were published or reported not only locally, but also in newspapers across the country and on national radio. On March 18, 1975, one of the arrested men, Warren Zufelt, committed suicide by jumping from an apartment building. The case only grew in sensation. Michel Gravel eventually pleaded guilty to charges of operating a common bawdy house and gross indecency, and in September 1975 was sentenced to two years less a day at the Guelph Correctional Centre. The remaining defendants were dragged through the courts, and although some were found guilty of engaging in sexual activities with juvenile males, none of them received a jail term or a fine; the charges were dismissed or the men were given absolute discharges or suspended sentences. Ontario Attorney General Roy McMurtry rejected claims that there had been improprieties in the handling of the case and said that the Crown Attorney's office in Ottawa had acted properly in laying the charges. This view was supported by Premier William Davis in a letter to GO dated July 15, 1976, in which he stated that "a public inquiry would serve no purpose." But, on April 15, 1976, charges of assault causing bodily harm were laid against Constable Robert Gervais and Sergeant Alain Méthot, two of the Ottawa policemen who had investigated the "Ottawa Sex Scandal." The charges were laid under McMurtry's direction, and after an OPP investigation into allegations made by George Duthie that the policemen had assaulted him during his arrest on March 8, 1975. Duthie had been charged with gross indecency; the charge was later quashed. (See also August 24, 1976.)

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August 24 Ottawa Charges of assault […]

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Toronto Guelph Correctional Centre

All People

William Davis Michael Cassidy Albert Roy Vernon Singer Michel Gravel Warren Zufelt Roy McMurtry Robert Gervais Alain Méthot George Duthie

All Organizations

New Democratic Party Liberal Party of Canada Gays of Ottawa Gays d'Ottawa GO, Gays of Ottawa Gais de L'Outaouais GO Ottawa Police Service Ontario Provincial Police

All Citations

"'Vice Ring' Cases May Be Checked: Police Commission," Ottawa Citizen, 10 April 1976, p. 1."Tous les dessous du scandale de la prostitution mâle à Ottawa," Gay Montréal, 1, no. 16 (2 November 1976): 8 "Sex Laws in a Mess, Basford Says," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 19 March 1976, p. 9 "Sentence Suspended on Indecency Count," Ottawa Citizen, 11 March 1976, p. 4 "Roy Wants Vice Ring Case Probed," Ottawa Citizen, 7 May 1976, p. 1 "Probe of Police Conduct Rejected," Ottawa Citizen, 14 June 1976, p. 3 "Police Face Assault Charge," Ottawa Citizen, 17 April 1976, p. 3 Pink Triangle Press papers, file on the Ottawa prostitution case, 1975–76, 1989–065, Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Toronto Coverage of this affair is listed in detail in Donald W. McLeod, Lesbian and Gay Liberation in Canada: A Selected Annotated Chronology, 1964–1975 (Toronto: ECW Press and Homewood Books, 1996), particularly pp. 208–11.See also: "Alleged Sex-Ring Clients' Lawyers Demand Probe of Morality Squad," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 9 March 1976, p. 8 Bob Avery, "Officers Face Assault Trial," Ottawa Journal, 17 April 1976, p. 1 Bob Avery, "OPP Investigator Studying Sex Case," Ottawa Journal, 9 March 1976, p. 1 Bob Avery, "Police Aware Boy in Need of Help," Ottawa Journal, 11 March 1976, pp. 1, 5 Bob Avery, "Police Prompted Me—Witness," Ottawa Journal, 5 May 1976, p. 1 Bob Avery, "Witness May Face Charges" Ottawa Journal, 11 March 1976, p. 8 Peter Bakogeorge, "Mystery Over Vice-ring Cases," Ottawa Citizen, 16 March 1976, p. 2 Peter Bakogeorge, "Picking Up the Pieces—53 Weeks Later," Ottawa Citizen, 16 March 1976, p. 33 Peter Bakogeorge, "Police Lawyer Pushes for Vice Ring Inquiry: 'Manhandled,'" Ottawa Citizen, 19 March 1976, p. 33 "Charge Quashed in Sex Case," Toronto Star, four star ed., 16 March 1976, p. A6 "Charges by Lawyers about Morality Squad Spark Ottawa Inquiry," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 10 March 1976, p. 4 "Charges Dismissed against Last of 17 Accused in Vice Ring," Ottawa Citizen, 11 August 1976, p. 3 "Crown to Go on in Vice-ring Case Despite Reversals," Ottawa Citizen, 14 May 1976, p. 4 "Davis Rejects Probe into Police Conduct," Ottawa Citizen, 3 August 1976, p. 3 Eric Dowd, "Sex Ring Case Prosecutions Were 'Proper': McMurtry Defends Criticisms," Ottawa Journal, 19 March 1976, p. 1 Eric Dowd, "Vice Ring Public Inquiry Rejected," Ottawa Journal, 11 May 1976, p. 17 "Ex-newsman Cleared of Indecency Charge: Teen-age Prostitution Service in Ottawa," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 16 March 1976, p. 4 Maurice Flood, "Ottawa Outrage Unravels," Gay Tide, 3, no. 2 (April 1976): 11 D. Garmaise, "Gov't Says 'No,'" GO Info, 3, no. 3 (June–July 1976): 3 Bert Hill, "MLAs Attack Crown: Vice Handling," Ottawa Citizen, 19 March 1976, p. 1 John Honderich, "Is the Right to Publish a Right to Lynch?" Maclean's, 5 April 1976, p. 66 "Indecency Charge Dropped: Prostitution Ring," Ottawa Citizen, 29 April 1976, p. 3 "Inquiry Ruled Out: Prostitution Ring," Ottawa Citizen, 11 May 1976, p. 4 "Judge Quashes Vice Charge: Crown Calls No Evidence," Ottawa Citizen, 15 March 1976, p. 1 "Key Witness in Sex Case May Be Charged," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 11 March 1976, p. 10 "Key Witness in Vice Case Not Charged," Toronto Star, four star ed., 6 April 1976, p. A6 Gary Kinsman and Patrizia Gentile, The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010), pp. 304–310 "Man Acquitted in 2nd-last Case in Ottawa Series," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 2 June 1976, p. 8 Russell Mills, "Police Report on Vice Arrests Should Be Public," Ottawa Citizen, 20 March 1976, p. 6 "No Perjury Trial Planned for Key Sex-ring Witness," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 6 April 1976, p. 35 "Ottawa Police Should Undergo Public Inquiry" (editorial), Gay Rising, April 1976, p. 2

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Vernon Singer

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