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	Priest to Plead Guilty in Sex Assault Retired Cleric to Make Plea to Two of 13 Charges, Pembroke Court Hears By Andrew Seymour Ottawa Citizen January 8, 2008 http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=cd52554a-a011-4e43-b297-6d48087a3d86&k=20802 A retired priest and former Vatican official intends to plead guilty to at least two of 13 indecent and sexual assault charges against him, court heard on Tuesday. The revelation about the impending guilty pleas came from Crown prosecutor John Pepper during the second day of testimony in Msgr. Bernard Prince's trial into a single count of indecent assault. According to Mr. Pepper, Msgr. Prince intends to plead guilty in at least two cases involving men who on Tuesday provided the court with similar-fact evidence that the now 72-year-old former priest fondled or engaged in other inappropriate sexual behaviour with them when they were teens. Msgr. Prince was originally to stand trial on 13 counts of indecent or sexual assault, but the matter was severed into two separate proceedings on Monday. Msgr. Prince elected to go to trial after entering a not-guilty plea on a single count of indecent assault for alleged sexual assaults on a young male at his Wilno cabin and an Ottawa apartment between 1976 and 1979. The other 12 charges, which include the two matters to which Msgr. Prince is now expected to plead guilty, will be dealt with at a later date, expected to be either later this week or early next. The two men, who cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban, testified on Tuesday about how they were allegedly sexually assaulted by the retired Pembroke-area priest, who was a friend of the late Pope John Paul II and once held a senior post at the Vatican. The first man, who is now 43, testified that Msgr. Prince slid his hand into his pants, touched his genitals and attempted to masturbate him during a visit to the priest's cabin when he was 15. The incident allegedly occurred after the two went skinny-dipping in the cabin's pool. The second man, who is now 40, testified that Msgr. Prince attempted to touch his genitals while the two were sharing a bed at the priest's Ottawa apartment when he was between 12 and 14. According to the second man, Msgr. Prince's attempts came after the two had watched a pornographic movie the priest had rented from a nearby video store. Both men testified that they never told anyone about the assaults until after police launched an investigation. Msgr. Prince's lawyer, Chris Kelly, did not cross examine either of the men following their testimony, instead asking the Crown prosecutor, Mr. Pepper, to advise them that his client intended to plead guilty to the charges against him in relation to their cases. However, Mr. Kelly spent several hours on Tuesday cross examining the now-44-year-old man who testified on Monday that Msgr. Prince fondled him 10-12 times over a two-week period in the summer of 1976 and again at his Ottawa apartment about a year later. Mr. Kelly attacked the man's memory of the events, questioning several inconsistencies in his testimony. At one point, he suggested the man made point-form notes of a police transcript of his initial complaint and requested a transcript of testimony he gave in an out-of-court examination in March 2007 so he wouldn't forget what he'd already said. The man said he only requested the documents to be sure what he said was "100-per-cent" accurate. He agreed his memory may have faded over time. "Thirty years ago, I was very young. My memory is not a TV you can turn on and off," said the man. "I didn't exactly put a nick in the wall every time I was abused." Mr. Kelly also questioned how the man continued to put himself in situations where he was alone with Msgr. Prince even after he was allegedly sexually assaulted. In particular, the defence lawyer questioned why the man agreed to visit Msgr. Prince in Ottawa after allegedly being fondled and forced to shower with him at his cabin the previous summer. He also questioned why the man willingly returned to the cabin where the "despicable acts" occurred three times with his friends in the years following the alleged sexual assaults. "I never thought it would ever happen again," the man answered. Mr. Kelly also questioned why the man called between 15 and 21 law firms, then waited several weeks before reporting the alleged abuse to police. During earlier testimony, the man said he came forward because he was angry at his sister's suggestion that the original complainant might only be interested in money after she saw a newspaper article about charges against the retired priest. But on cross examination, the man admitted he has since filed a $1.5-million lawsuit against Msgr. Prince and the Catholic Church. Contact: aseymour@thecitizen.canwest.com
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