CANADA
Toronto Star
By BOB WEBER
The Canadian Press
Thu., March 16, 2017
IQALUIT—A Nunavut court says public money should pay for a lawyer to argue the appeal of a former priest serving a 19-year sentence for sexually abusing dozens of Inuit children.
Eric Dejaeger was convicted on 32 counts of sexually abuse 22 Inuit children stemming from his time in Igloolik, Nunavut, as an Oblate priest and missionary more than 35 years ago.
“I am of the view that Mr. Dejaeger could not effectively present his appeal in an organized and coherent fashion without the assistance of counsel,” wrote Justice Neil Sharkey of the Nunavut Court of Appeal.
Dejaeger has said he’s too broke to pay for a lawyer and legal aid in Nunavut has turned him down.
Sharkey’s written ruling said Dejaeger has not entered specific grounds for his appeal or referred to any errors of law he feels were made during his trial.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.