No More Services for Priest Convicted of Abuse, CTV, May 7, 2011

No More Services for Priest Convicted of Abuse

CTV
May 7, 2011

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110507/OTT_mccann_110507/20110507/?hub=OttawaHome

Father Jack McCann will no longer provide services in the Archdiocese of Ottawa. McCann has a previous conviction of sexually abusing young girls.

Father Jack McCann will no longer provide services in the Archdioceses of Ottawa following revelations of his 1992 guilty plea to sexual assault.

The news was read in a letter to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church parishioners during a special prayer session Saturday morning.

Deacon Norman Levesques, who read the letter, said he didn't know any more information than what had been in the news.

CTV Ottawa first reported on Thursday that McCann spent 10 months in jail after pleading guilty to sex crimes against underage girls in B.C. in the 1970s.

McCann was supposed to be supervised while performing mass, but was not. Father Stephen Liang of Our Lady of Mount Carmel said he was "horrified" when he learned he hadn't been told of McCann's past.

Parishioners said they were also shocked by the news.

"I don't want to be prejudiced but once you enter that relationship with God you have to respect whatever you vowed for," said Mae Jumo-As.

"Anybody can make mistakes," said Lynne Brazzeau. "We're all human and I feel really bad for the priest."

Sylvia MacEachern runs a blog that tracks priests who have been accused, charged and sued for crimes like McCann's. She said priests shouldn't be allowed to return to the church in the first place.

What a shame that these men aren't defrocked instantly," she said. "We wouldn't run into these situations."

McCann lives in the Ottawa area but has been unavailable for comment.