Christine Jessop doc drives brother’s push for better victim services

A new documentary on Christine Jessop’s 1984 abduction has left her brother Ken Jessop pushing for better victim services in Niagara, where he says families are too often left without meaningful help.

Decades in the making, ‘The Christine Jessop Story’ is a three-part documentary film series that tells the family’s story in their own words after decades of silence.

The film covers Christine’s disappearance from Queensville, the wrongful conviction of Guy-Paul Morin and the long fight for truth that stretched into Ken’s adult life.

“We’d been trying to get the documentary made for 20 years, just to tell the truth about what went on, because there was so much corruption and one-sided reporting throughout the case,” Jessop told Fort Erie Radio in an interview early last week.

The production team filmed Jessop’s mother before her death in 2024 at Jessop’s request, aware of her importance to the story. Her presence remains central to the documentary, which now falls to Ken as the only surviving family member to continue telling Christine’s story.

The filming process, Jessop said, was unexpectedly restorative.

“It was the greatest therapy I ever had,” said Jessop. “I walked away feeling lighter, like all the garbage was out. For the first time, there was no reason to look back and that was weird for me, only being able to look forward.”

Jessop now runs a wood design detailing business in Stevensville while managing the local farmers’ market.

Community response has been strong, with residents approaching Jessop at the recent Arts, Beats & Eats festival on Jarvis Street and sending messages from across Canada.

“It feels great that, 40 years later, my sister and our story didn’t die in vain. Even though it’s a dark documentary with gruesome details, in the end it’s a message of hope, especially a mother’s love for her son,” he said.

Jessop now hopes to channel that momentum into building support networks for victims in Niagara. He said his late mother spent decades volunteering with families of missing children, supporting families at crime scenes and he feels ready to continue her work.

“The documentary, it really shows the horrendous treatment of victims in this country. Once you watch it, you’ll never look at cases the same way again,” he said.

Jessop added that he is exploring ways to start a non-profit or community group in Fort Erie to connect trauma survivors with people who understand their struggles.

The three-part documentary series is available to stream on Crave.

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