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A military reservist who tried to blow the whistle on a pardoned
sexoffender teaching cadets in London says he will be "watching
mybackside."
Kevin Acs, a second lieutenant, was transferred away from his
volunteer
duties at 27 Air Squadron after raising concerns for children
there.
He said Wednesday he's convinced, however, "justice will be
done"following a stormy parent meeting at the squadron Tuesday
night.
The parents learned instructor Roger Micks was relieved of his
duties andmilitary brass said pardoned sex offenders will no longer
be accepted for
jobs or volunteer posts in the Ontario cadet organization.
"We'll be changing our policies," Lt.-Col. Morley Armstrong,
regional cadet
officer for army, air and sea cadets assured about 100
parents.
Some parents vilified Acs and accused him of going to The Free
Press, butTom Weihmayr - parent of a former cadet and himself an
instructionalofficer in the reserves for 14 years - said it was he,
Weihmayr, who alerteda reporter.
Cadet officials blamed The Free Press for spreading
misinformation andsaid Micks's conviction for gross indecency had
little to do with sexualactivity and their children had been
safe.
They did confirm, however, Micks, 50, was deemed unsuitable for
militaryservice when he applied.
Micks joined 27 Squadron in 2003 and received his pardon on June
26,2009, it has been learned from a credible source in the cadet
organization.
And Micks never achieved the rank of civilian instructor,
despite beinglisted as one on the 27 Squadron website.
Micks's photo was removed by Wednesday.
An archived story from the Nov. 22, 1985 Free Press reported the
previousday Micks was convicted in court of gross indecency
involving a 15-year-old boy.
The account said Wilfred Roger Micks, 25, was a maintenance man
at aLondon restaurant and the victim was a part-time busboy.
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The boy said the incident occurred in a staff dressing room
after therestaurant closed late on Jan. 7, 1985.
Testifying in his own defence, Micks denied the boy's story, but
wasconvicted and later sentenced.
Wednesday, a parent of a 14-year-old boy - who asked not to be
namedbecause of the hostile atmosphere among parents at this week's
meeting -said she wanted more information, but it wasn't
forthcoming.
"I wanted to hear from him," she said of Acs' lawyer, Rob
Talach, towardwhom much parent anger was directed. He was ordered
from the meeting.
The mother said cadet officials fudged when asked by parents to
define"gross indecency," and they insisted "it wasn't like a sexual
assault."
Weihmayr confirmed the sexual aspects of Micks' conviction
weredownplayed by the cadet leaders amid assurances that children
were ingood hands.
The woman said her son enjoys cadets and she has no plans to
pull himout, but "I am hoping they will live up to their word."
Meanwhile, Talach said he will continue to monitor developments.
"A verbalassurance in a closed-door meeting that this change is
going to take place"
is worth watching to ensure things improve, he said. He's
created an e-mailaddress for interested people:
[email protected].
[email protected],or followChipatlfpress on
Twitter.
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