Last Updated: Friday, January 28, 2011 | 10:31 AM CST
CBC News
There are still a number of outstanding civil claims against Eric Dejaeger, the Catholic priest who until recently had been a fugitive living in Belgium.
Dejaeger, 63, is currently in custody charged with sex crimes against young people that are alleged to have occurred when he was working in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982. He fled charges in Canada in 1995 and lived in Belgium for 16 years until he was expelled and returned to Nunavut earlier this month.
Dejaeger had already pleaded guilty in 1990 to nine counts of sex crimes against boys and girls in Baker Lake, another community in Nunavut, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
While Dejaeger was in Belgium, the Catholic Diocese of Churchill-Hudson Bay was busy settling with alleged victims of abuse by the priest.
Lawyer Steven Cooper, who represents victims with claims against Dejaeger, says he’s working with “five to 10″ people with unresolved claims.
Cooper says Dejaeger’s return to Nunavut forces his clients to think about a painful past, but that they want justice to be served.
Accepting a civil settlement still allows victims to press criminal charges.
Diocese not involved in criminal case
Rheal Teffaine, a lawyer representing the diocese, says he has been working on settlements for the last five years. He said he can’t say how many people have settled with the church or how much money was involved, because of confidentiality agreements.
“We have settled out of court in each and every claim so that none of these individuals have had to relive the events all over again,” he said.
Teffaine said the diocese has no involvement in the current court case.
“Bishop [Reynald] Rouleau has co-operated with the RCMP whenever he was requested, but they are not directly or indirectly involved in the criminal proceedings,” Teffaine said.
Dejaeger’s next court appearance is for a bail hearing Feb. 9.
“We have settled out of court in each and every claim so that none of these individuals have had to relive the events all over again”
Can you believe it? “So that none of these individuals have had to relive the events all over again.”
That’s why they settled? and out of court?
Really?
So Dejaeger fled the country to elude justice in 1995, and the lawsuits started 11 years later. Is that it? From 2006 to 2011 the diocese has been busily settling lawsuits out of court. And all the while Dejaeger was wanted in Canada and his accusers were left in the lurch while he was merrily prancing around Belgium and France, saying Masses, greeting unsuspecting pilgrims, hearing confessions? And not a soul over there knew!
Apologies, not true. The Oblates in Belgium knew.
What of the Oblates as far as lawsuits are concerned? If the Diocese has been busily settling lawsuits over Dejaeger for the past five years then 10:1 the Oblates must have been busily settling them too?
Why was Dejaeger not dragged back here by the scruff of the neck to face his accusers in a court of law for his CRIMES?
A final note here: according to the 08 May 2010 article in the Flemish paper De Morgen the Oblates had at that time paid 380,000 euros. There is no indication of when these monies were paid out. This is an unofficial translation
Hi Sylvia, after rereading the article it got me thinking, could this be additional persons that have been abused yet never did pursue the criminal venue. The article claims 5-10 people are in discussion for settlement claims. Should other survivors also be assisted in becoming part of this claim even if they have filed complaints in the preliminary investigations in 1989. It would be a sad state of affairs if Rouleau and his legal cleaner had been working quietly to settle and intonating that this be settled out of court rather than to find redress through the criminal venue. Just a thought.
Yes Michel. I’m wondering exactly the same thing.