Duarte: John Duarte

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Joao Jose Correirra Duarte

(Picture Left:  Windsor Star – Handout, CNS)

ex- priest Diocese of London Ontario.  Ordained 1996.      Since 1995 had been doing missionary work in Haiti and acting as an administrator of an orphanage for boys.  Left the priesthood in 2003 and took up permanent residence in Haiti where he worked for the Windsor-based Hearts Together for Haiti (HTFHaiti), a charity which he co-founded, dedicated to “helping the Haitian community” with educational and medical programs. Around 2006, after a serious complaint was filed against him, he left HTFHaiti and  took on work at a local hotel in Sousa, Puerto Plata.  2009 – sex abuse charges spanning from before, during and after Duarte’s years as a priest.  The offences relate to sex abuse of boys age 12 to 17 in Haiti.  April 2010 GUILTY plea after deal struck by Crown and defence lawyer Andrew Bradie – 18 months jail (2 for one for time served therefore 8 months or less) & 3 years probation.

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21 October 2010:  Retired priest faces more sex abuse charges

02 April 2010: Ontario priest gets 18 months for preying on Haitian youths

09 December 2009: Pastor jailed for making ‘rape’ video

27 November 2009: Former Ontario priest charged with molestation in Haiti denied bail

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The following information is drawn from Canadian Catholic Directories (CCCD) of that date and media reports (M)

April 2010:  GUILTY plea

October 2009:  arrested in Puerto Plata, for extradition to Canada to face charges of sexual exploitation of youth in Haiti (under Canada’s sex tourism laws)

2002:  pastor, Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Windsor, Ontario (Bishop Ronald Peter Fabbro csb 27 April 2002-)

2000:  address St. Gregory the Great, Tecumseh (pastor, Father P.W. Fuerth)

1999, 1998:  address St. Michael RC Church, Leamington, Ontario (pastor, Father F.L. Murphy)

1997:  address St. Michael RC Church, Leamington, Ontario (pastor Father J.M. Higgins)

1996: ordained (Bishop John Michael Sherlock 1978-27 April 2002))

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27 November 2009:  Former Ontario priest charged with molestation in Haiti denied bail

Ex-Windsor priest faces extradition from D.R.

John Duarte charged with 9 counts of sexual exploitation

Last Updated: Friday, October 23, 2009 | 9:08 AM ET

CBC News

A former Windsor priest arrested in the Dominican Republic and accused of sexually abusing teenage boys in Haiti will be tried in Ontario, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Provincial Police confirmed Thursday.

John Duarte, 44, is currently being held in custody in the D.R. awaiting extradition to Canada, according to Const. Shawna Coulter. He has been charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation, she said.

The charges against Duarte are related to allegations involving “a number of male youths in Haiti during the years 1995 to 2005,” Coulter said.

He was arrested on Tuesday at a hotel in Sosua, D.R., a beach village on the country’s northern coast, following an investigation by the OPP and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Duarte was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1996 and served at a number of parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, including Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windsor and St. Gregory the Great in Tecumseh, according to Frank Chauvin, who knew Duarte through his own charity work in Haiti.

He left the priesthood in 2003 to move to Labadie, Haiti, where he worked for a Windsor-based charity group, Hearts Together for Haiti (HTFHaiti), which he co-founded, Chauvin said.

But in June 2006, HTFHaiti’s chairman, Steve McDougall, received an email from a villager in Labadie, a northern coastal town, making “a very serious complaint” about Duarte, McDougall said.

Duarte denied the allegations but resigned from HTFHaiti almost immediately, McDougall said.

He then left Haiti and moved to Dominican Republic, Chauvin said.

“The news of the arrest of John Duarte for allegations of sexual abuse that happened in Haiti is devastating,” the director of communications for the Diocese of London said in a press release.

“Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to come forward,” Mark Adkinson said.

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Former priest awaits extradition on sex charges

23 October 2009

National Post

Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service

 A former Canadian priest currently sitting in a Dominican Republic jail cell awaiting extradition to Canada on multiple sexual molestation charges was working as a scuba diving instructor at a hotel before local authorities arrested him this week.

Joao Jose Correira Duarte, a former Windsor, Ont., priest also known as John Duarte, faces nine counts of sexually exploiting 12 to 17-year-old boys in Haiti over a 10-year span. He was arrested Tuesday by Dominican immigration and counter-narcotics agents in a joint operation, local authorities said.

Mr. Duarte, 44, had been living quietly in Sousa, Puerto Plata, where he found work at a local hotel, first as a waiter and then as a scuba diving instructor where he mainly taught tourists, according to a statement from the National Directorate for Drug Control.

“John Duarte fled to this area like just another tourist who flock to their northern coast of the country to enjoy the warm beaches, but he decided to stay here and to dedicate himself to teach scuba diving,” said directorate spokesman Roberto Lebron.

Mr. Duarte allegedly exchanged goods and money for sexual favours with Haitian youth aged 12 to 17 at two hotels in Petion Ville, a sector located in the south of Port-au-Prince, Dominican authorities say. He bought the youths clothes and paid for the lodging of some of his victims’ families.

The charges stem from Mr. Duarte’s alleged conduct with youth between 1995 and 2005 in Haiti, the Ontario Provincial Police said. He was a priest during that time, OPPsaid.

He was arrested under a section of the Criminal Code which allows Canadian citizens to be prosecuted for some offences committed outside of Canada.

The RCMP’s national child exploitation co-ordination centre also participated in the investigation.

Mr. Duarte held many posts in the Windsor area between 1996 and 2003. He was pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Windsor and pastor-priest at Catholic Central high school from 2000 to 2003.

Mr. Duarte’s involvement in Haiti dated back to the early 1990s.

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Canadian missionary accused of abusing teenage boys in Haiti, report says

23 October 2009

Canadian Press

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Police say a Canadian missionary who worked as a priest in Windsor, Ont., has been arrested in the Dominican Republic.

Jonathan Arias of the police force in the Dominican city of Puerto Plata says John Duarte, also identified in local media reports as Joao Jose Correira Duarte, was arrested Tuesday.

Arias says Duarte was apprehended near Puerto Plata and is currently in police custody in Santo Domingo.

A published report in the online edition of the Dominican newspaper Hoy says Duarte is facing 12 sexual assault charges relating to the alleged abuse of teenage boys in neighbouring Haiti.

The report identifies Duarte as a Portuguese-born orphanage administrator who has worked in Haiti since 1995. Prior to that, a former parishioner says he was a pastor at a church in the southwestern Ontario border city of Windsor.

The Hoy report says Duarte was arrested under a warrant issued in Ontario and is now facing extradition to Canada.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs would only confirm that a Canadian citizen has been arrested and released no other details.

Authorities have arrested a number of men in recent years accused of taking advantage of the deep poverty in Haiti to abuse children.

-With files from The Associated Press

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Ex-Windsor priest arrested for sex abuse in Haiti

Last Updated: Thursday, October 22, 2009 | 1:00 PM ET

CBC News

A former Windsor priest has been arrested in the Dominican Republic and faces charges of sexually assaulting teenage boys in Haiti, says a local media report.

Father Joao José Correira Duarte, also known as John, 43, was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in Puerto Plata, Hoy Digital, a Spanish-language news website based in Santo Domingo, D.R., reported Wednesday.

He faces 12 charges of sexually assaulting boys aged 12 to 17, the site reported.

Some of the charges date to 1995, when Duarte helped run an orphanage in Port-au-Prince, the site reported.

Duarte had for many years been involved in charity and missionary work in Haiti.He is a co-founder of Windsor-based Hearts Together for Haiti (HTFHaiti), a charity dedicated to “helping the Haitian community” with educational and medical programs, according to its website and worked for it in Haiti since 2003.

But in June 2006, HTFHaiti chairman Steve McDougall received “a very serious complaint” by email from an adult in Labadie, a village on Haiti’s northern coast.McDougall called an emergency board meeting at which it was decided that a board member would travel to Haiti and confront Duarte directly, McDougall told CBC News.

Duarte did not admit to the allegations, McDougall said. But Duarte did return to Canada less than a week later and resigned from the charity on June 20, McDougall said.

McDougall says his organization alerted police to the allegations.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade confirmed late Wednesday night “the arrest of a Canadian citizen on Oct. 20, in Puerto Plata” but would not confirm if that citizen is Duarte.”

Consular officers at the Canadian mission in Santo Domingo are providing consular assistance and working with local authorities to gather more information,” said department spokesperson Dana Cryderman.

“Due to the Privacy Act, no further information is available at this time,” Cryderman said.

Duarte is expected to be extradited to Canada, Hoy Digital reported.

Though Duarte has not been associated with HTFHaiti since 2006, his arrest is “very sad for a lot of us concerned with the organization,” McDougall said. “John did a lot of good work over the years and it’s pretty upsetting it’s come to this.” 

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Dominicans Arrest Missionary Accused of Molesting Boys

Latin American Herald Tribune

21 October 2009

SANTO DOMINGO – A Canadian missionary accused of sexually abusing dozens of young boys in neighboring Haiti was arrested in the northern Dominican province of Puerto Plata, authorities said Wednesday.

Joao Jose Correira Duarte, who goes by John Duarte, was captured on Tuesday in a hotel where he was staying as a tourist, the DNCD counternarcotics agency said in a communique.

He is accused of sexually abusing dozens of boys by taking advantage of his status as a religious minister.

Duarte is facing at least a dozen charges of raping boys between the ages of 12 and 17, according to the communique put out by the DNCD, which participated in the man’s arrest along with immigration officials.

Authorities said Duarte had sexual relations with a group of Haitian youngsters while he was a guest in hotels in Port-au-Prince.

They added that the Canadian had lived in the Haitian capital since 1995 “working as a missionary and serving as the administrator of an orphanage for boys.”

Duarte had sexual relations with the minors in exchange for economic favors, including buying them clothing and paying for the housing of some of his victims’ relatives.

The alleged pedophile will be deported in the coming hours to Canada, where he is facing rape charges. EFE

19 Responses to Duarte: John Duarte

  1. concerned says:

    I understand he is working in a family business as a cook in Windsor. Can you imagine, young students waiting tables, delivering pizza’s possibly working in the kitchen with this convicted pedophile!!

    I also heard, but cannot confirm that he was thrown a coming out of jail party in a Parish Rectory here in Windsor.

    If this is true, boy the church is even more disturbed than I realized.

  2. Sylvia says:

    You have to be kidding? A coming out of jail party?! I wonder? Has anyone heard anything of this? A party in a parish rectory in Windsor to celebrate ex-priest and convcted molester John Duarte’s release from jail?

    As for the job, you’re right. How old does an employee in a restaurant have to be these days? (Duarte was molesting boys age 12 to 17).

    An added dimension to this….

    Look who lawyer who hammered out Duarte’s sweet deal was: Andrew Bradie. That’s the Andrew Bradie who is currently defending Hod Marshall, right?

    And, one more. Look at this: a courtroom filled with his supporters.

    Have people totally lost their senses?

  3. concerned says:

    Koolini’s restaurant is where he is working, that I have confirmed.

  4. concerned says:

    From what I heard, the party was thrown for him in a South Windsor Parish Rectory.

    Apparently one of his strongest supporters, and he had many…. is a London Diocese Priest who is Pastor of a South Windsor parish.

    I know one thing, my place of business has just changed caterers for our future events.

  5. A says:

    The party both surprises and disgusts me, and yet if what you have heard is correct about the gathering being at a South Windsor church, it would then be the same priest who went to the Dominican before Duarte’s arrest. This particular priest has never impressed me and if this latest episode is true, I once again am glad to trust my instinct.

  6. Sylvia says:

    Is there the remote possibility whoever hired Duarte doesn’t know he’s a convicted sex predator?

    If they do know and chose to hire him regardless then I firmly believe there is an onus on them to alert staff and patrons alike.

  7. Brunelle Brenda says:

    oh the owner of the restaurant knows what he hired for sure. As for the parish rectory in South Windsor where the rumoured party occurred, I can assure you that pastor did not go to Haiti.

    But he sure was a strong supporter of John, as were many people in our community.

    strange, victims are kicked out and shamed… and our perps get hired and partys thrown for them when they are released from jail.

    Well, the good thing is that our young children can rest assured of their safety around this man, after all he did serve 18 months in jail. I am sure he is a reformed pedophile and not likely to ever reoffend!!!

    bb

  8. Sylvia says:

    That last sentence is said tongue in cheek, right Brenda? 🙂

    • Brunelle Brenda says:

      tongue and cheek is correct, they are never reformed. Certainly Jail does not offer such treatment.

      My apologies for not being clear of my sarcasm, I myself am currently in a litigation against another priest from a Windsor parish. I know only too well how we as victims are treated.

      Fr. John at one point was pastor of most recent church I was registered at, he left and never returned. NOW we know why…

      His victims left feeling betrayed and no possible way to seek justice, at least his victims left in Haiti, now whether or not there are any in Leamington, Windsor… I don’t know…. but in any event, he is a free man, working and still stands among many supporters in spite of what he did not only to his victims but to the church, his brother priests and all the faithful.

      When I read and heard about him working here in town, I had to call that restaurant to confirm, I was shocked beyond words that it was true.

      Windsor is a small community, if a party was in fact thrown for him in a rectory, that too will be confirmed. Does anyone know for sure if this happened?

      Brenda

      • Sylvia says:

        Thanks Brenda. I thought so 🙂 I’d say it exactly the same way. Hard not to, isn’t it? Seems that’s all we ever hear. That’s what they said about Father Philip Jacobs: low risk to re-offend. Looks like they may have been wrong on that one – just a little mistake on someone’s part I suppose?

  9. John Mac Donald says:

    PLEASE answer yes to that question from Sylvia Brenda. I have not read any sarcasm into your blogs to date.

    John

  10. BigBadMe says:

    Public FYI, Now working in Strathroy as a Chef in his sister’s family restaurant Tia’s Place.

  11. PolarNorth says:

    Confirmed – head chef and ‘party organizer’ , general scumbag psychopath at “Tia’s Place” , Strathroy Ontario Canada. The portuguese community they cater to, protect this satanic piece of inhuman slime.

  12. Irene says:

    Yes, the restaurant in Strathroy Ontario is Tia’s Place. Sadly, the restaurant gets rave reviews. Lots of baptism and confirmation parties there. The scourge of catholism!

  13. Michelle says:

    Portuguese community cannot protect him from other community members who can take some action. I’m prepared to share this information via social media, visiting Tia’s to inform public of his presence, inform the owner that I will not support this place of business, print off copies of news reports and putting them up around town…the first one will go on the front window of the restaurant. Just a little more research to be sure. This is unacceptable. Where does one find publicized reports of pedophiles in their community…anyone??

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