Retired Priest Charged

By Vicki Gough
Chatham Daily News
November 28, 2012

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2012/11/28/retired-priest-charged


A list of charges against a retired priest living in Chatham has grown.

Chatham-Kent police arrested Linus Bastien, 86, at his retirement residence on Keil Drive Wednesday morning.

"This investigation is a result of charges started by Essex OPP," said Chatham-Kent Sgt. Mike Thompson.

The accused is charged with numerous historic sex-related offences, said Thompson.

But the officer declined to give specific numbers nor the nature of the charges.

An undisclosed number of complainants came forward after the OPP charges, said Thompson.

In 2011, Essex County OPP charged Bastien with two counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency involving two altar servers more than three decades ago.

Those charges date to 1978 when Bastien was assigned to St. Mary's Parish in Maidstone, Ont., OPP said.

The OPP laid two more charges against Bastien, dating back to 1974-75, when he was at St. Paul's Catholic Church in LaSalle.

Bastien served at 10 area parishes in his 40 years as a priest with the London Diocese, including churches in Tilbury and Wheatley.

The latest allegations involve the retired priest's tenure at the former St. Charles Parish in the Tilbury area.

Bastien was released with a promise to appear in Chatham court on Jan. 2.

His next court date in Windsor is Dec. 10.



Contact: vicki.gough@sunmedia.ca