SASKATOON (CANADA)
Saskatoon Star Phoenix [Saskatoon SK, Canada]
August 26, 2024
By Bre McAdam
A 13-year-old girl told police a priest hugged and kissed her on the lips while she was alone at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral.
Last March, a 13-year-old girl told police that a Saskatoon priest hugged and kissed her on the lips while she was alone in a room at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in the city’s Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.
She said Father Janko Kolosnjaji then told her she had “beautiful eyes” as she walked away.
The girl, whose identity is protected by a mandatory publication ban, made her video-recorded police statement in Ukrainian on March 17, 2023. A court-approved translator is interpreting her statement during Kolosnjaji’s sexual assault trial, which began Monday in Saskatoon provincial court.
He is represented by defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle.
The girl, now 15, listened from a separate room in the courthouse as her statement was played in court. She told court everything she said during the interview was the truth. Judge Lua Gibb adopted her statement as evidence at the trial.
Kolosnjaji, 70, was charged on April 19, 2023 and released on a recognizance. He was suspended from his position in the church shortly after, and pleaded not guilty a month later.
Court heard the girl was helping her mom clean the church on March 11, 2023. She said she was alone in a cleaning supplies room when Kolosnjaji appeared and asked if she wanted a hug.
She said she didn’t say anything but hugged him because “It was like a silly habit.” She told police her head was down, so Kolosnjaji lifted her chin toward him and kissed her on the lips.
She said she felt very uncomfortable and walked away. He then complimented her eyes and she thanked him because she couldn’t fully comprehend what had happened, she said.
Later, she said she saw Kolosnjaji talking to her mom.
“He waved at me with a certain smile, as if he was very happy about what had occurred,” the girl told police.