Cadets to bar sex

offenders from
working in
organization
Jennifer O'Brien The London Free Press
Wednesday, February 23, 2011 9:52:21 EST AM

There are certain offences that even with a pardon, the adults should not be able to work with our cadets. LCol Morley
Armstrong Commanding Officer of Central Region Cadets

It will no longer be possible for pardoned sexual offenders to get jobs or

volunteer positions with air cadets in Ontario, organizers said Tuesday.
"What we, the senior leadership, have come to accept, is that there are
certain offences that even with a pardon, the adults (who committed them)
should not be able to work with our cadets," said Lt. Col. Morley Armstrong,

the regional cadet officer responsible for air, army and sea cadets in
Ontario. "We'll be changing our policies."
Armstrong was at Wolseley Barracks, along with Don Berrill, chair of the Air
Cadet League of Canada, to speak to more than 100 parents who turned
out for an emergency meeting called after they learned a volunteer
instructor who had been working with their kids is a pardoned sex offender.
Civilian instructor Roger Micks resigned after a London Free Press story
stated he had been volunteering with the 27th Air Squadron in London,
despite a gross indecency charge from 30 years ago.
But before the meeting, some parents had already agreed to join an
association called Make Cadets Safe, formed by Rob Talach, the London
lawyer said. Talach has been working with a man named Kevin Acs - a Lt.
Col - who says he has been penalized for complaining about Micks.
The meeting was called, "to clear up any misunderstandings and to
reassure parents that cadets in this squadron were being properly
supervised," said Armstrong.
The media were banned from inside the parent meeting, and dozens of
parents declined comment after. However, from outside the glass doors,
Berrill could be heard telling the group The Free Press did not have all the
correct information.
"Realistically, we are sitting here tonight, because a person who thinks they
know everything decided to go to the paper," he said.
After the meeting, Armstrong said Acs was never punished for speaking
out. "Absolutely not," Armstrong emphasized.
He and Berrill declined to answer any questions about Micks' specifically or
the offence he had committed.
Though a letter sent out to parents stated 27 squadron was never aware of
a staff member with a conviction involving a youth, Armstrong said he was
aware of the allegations, but didn't have enough information to take action
against Micks before now.
Talach was at the meeting, but was asked to leave when he stated who he
was.

But his goal may have been realized: He said earlier he wants Cadets to
change the policy so that pardoned sex offenders would never be hired.
E-mail jennifer.obrien@sunmedia.ca, or follow Obrienatlfpress on Twitter.