Who is Mr. Ekdahl from Ghost Girl: The True Story of a Child in Peril and the Teacher Who Saved Her and what is their importance?

Mr. Ekdahl is the father to Jade, Amber and Sapphire. Mr. Ekdahl refuses to allow Jadie to attend a Methodist church camp. He claims he wants his children to be open minded about religion. During the police investigation of his daughters' sexual abuse, it is discovered that Mr. Ekdahl has a box of animal bones in his home. He claims he enjoys piecing the bones back together. One of Mr. Ekdahl's skeletons is a cat skeleton, which Lindy believes might be the skeleton of Jenny. Mr. Ekdahl, however, claims he discovered the cat hit by a car in the road. Although he is never charged in the case of his children's abuse, Mr. Ekdahl is later jailed on a charge of sexual abuse of another school girl near his home.