Dejaeger Back in Nunavut Court This Month

Nunatsiaq Online
January 10, 2012

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674dejaeger_back_in_nunavut_court_this_month/

Roman Catholic priest Father Eric Dejaeger must appear in Nunavut Territorial court Jan.23 for arraignment on up to 39 criminal charges, most related to the sexual molestation of children, Justice Robert Kilpatrick said Jan. 9.

Crown prosecutor Paul Bychok and defence lawyer Andrew Mahar participated via a teleconference, and Dejaeger did not put in anappearance.

The list of allegations Dejaeger faces, which has swollen to nearly 40 counts, involves a long list of sex offences alleged to have occurred in Igloolik against children between 1978 and 1982.

RCMP in Igloolik originally charged Dejaeger with six counts of indecent assault in 1995.

But he fled to Belgium and missed a schedule court appearance on those charges.

Police in Belgium arrested Dejaeger after Belgian authorities discovered he was living there illegally. He had given up his Belgian citizenship in 1977 to become a Canadian citizen.

Belgian officials sent him back to Canada in early 2011 to face the outstanding charges.