Eric Dejaeger Hearing Put off Due to Lawyer No-show

By Nick Murray
CBC News
June 17, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/eric-dejaeger-hearing-put-off-due-to-lawyer-no-show-1.3116691

Catholic priest Eric Dejaeger leaves an Iqaluit, Nunavut, courtroom on Jan. 20, 2011 after his first appearance for six child sexual abuse charges in Igloolik dating back to the 1970s. Dejaeger, who was sentenced to 19 years, was back in Iqaluit court Tuesday for an update on three outstanding sex charges that date back to his time in an Alberta college in the mid-1970s. (Chris Windeyer/The Canadian Press)

Former Roman Catholic priest Eric Dejaeger, who is serving time for sexually abusing children in Igloolik, was in an Iqaluit courtroom yesterday expecting to hear an update on whether his outstanding charges from Alberta will be heard in Nunavut.

Instead, Dejaeger will return Thursday morning because his lawyer didn't call in to the court in time due to a misunderstanding.

Dejaeger, who in February was convicted of 24 sex-related charges involving children more than 30 years ago, had applied to have his three outstanding Alberta-based sex-related charges heard in the Nunavut Court of Justice.

The charges stem from a period in the mid-1970s, when he was studying at the Newman Theological College in Edmonton.

The 68-year-old Dejaeger appeared wearing the standard-issue navy blue sweats from the Baffin Correctional Centre. He wore a pair of glasses with brown frames, and his white beard had become long and puffy.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench agreed to move the charges to Nunavut several months ago, but it takes quite some time to move the files over.

Yesterday, in an Iqaluit courtroom, Crown prosecutor Barry McLaren said the files still haven't arrived.

"We've been hoping that they would come up, but we knew they were not likely to be here," McLaren said.

Tuesday's hearing was put over so Dejaeger's lawyer, Malcolm Kempt, could be present by phone. McLaren expects they'll likely set the hearing over until after the beginning of September