(CANADA)
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) [Toronto, Canada]
January 21, 2025
By Emma Tranter
Hearings scheduled in Iqaluit this week now adjourned to Thursday
A former Catholic priest charged with eight counts of historical sexual assault against children in Nunavut is expected to plead guilty to those charges.
Eric Dejaeger’s judge-alone trial was scheduled to take place this week, but adjourned on Tuesday.
Scott Cowan, Dejaeger’s lawyer, told the court he and Crown lawyer Emma Baasch agreed the guilty pleas would be entered on Thursday morning.
Discussion about those pleas happened before anyone testified in court, meaning there are few public details about the charges against Dejaeger. A publication ban protects the names of the children he’s accused of sexually assaulting.
Court documents show the charges stem from what is alleged to have happened while Dejaeger, now 77, was working as a priest in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982. The investigations happened between 2011 and 2015.
Dejaeger was previously sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2015 after a court found him guilty of 32 counts of child sexual abuse during his time as a priest in Igloolik. He was released on parole in May 2022.
Dejaeger, who was born in Belgium, became a Canadian citizen in 1977 and came to Nunavut as an Oblate priest.
He’s due back in court on Thursday morning. Victim impact statements are also expected to be read at that time.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.