Montreal Gazette
NUNAVUT — Fugitive priest Eric Dejaeger returned to Nunavut Thursday to appear in court for the first time since fleeing prosecution for child sex charges in 1995.
Dejaeger faces six child sexual abuse charges dating back to his time as an Oblate missionary in Igloolik in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Dejaeger appeared before a justice of the peace in an Iqaluit courtroom reluctantly, initially refusing to leave cells at the Iqaluit courthouse.
“He doesn’t wish to be brought up right now,” said Mandy Sammurtok, the legal aid lawyer assigned to represent Dejaeger at the hearing.
But Crown prosecutor Paul Bychok objected, saying it was not up to Dejaeger to decide whether to appear in court.
“We’re dealing with an indictable offence and he is expected in the courtroom,” Bychok said.
After a short delay, a haggard-looking Dejaeger entered the courtroom wearing blue jeans and a checked shirt. He was not wearing a belt or shoes.
The case falls under publication bans prohibiting the publication of evidence from a bail hearing scheduled for Monday and information that would identify any of DeJaeger’s four alleged victims from Igloolik.
Dejaeger was ejected from Belgium Jan. 19 because he’d been living there without a visa since 1997.
Dejaeger left Canada in 1995 after serving five years for nine counts of child sexual abuse in Baker Lake, Nunavut.
He’s been wanted by Interpol since 2001. Most recently, he lived in a residence for Flemish priests near Blanden, Belgium.
Not exactly the right way for a fugitive from justice to start!
Imagine! He decided he didn’t want to appear right then!!
And, looks like he either doesn’t have a lawyer or his lawyer hasn’t arrived in Iqaluit yet.