CBC News
January 5, 2011
By CBC News
A Canadian Catholic priest who is wanted on charges of sex crimes against children has been taken into custody in Belgium, where he has been living for over 15 years.
A Canadian Catholic priest who is wanted on charges of sex crimes against children has been taken into custody by immigration authorities in Belgium, where he has been living for over 15 years.
Rev. Eric Dejaeger, 63, was detained this week because he has overstayed his legal residency in Belgium, an official from the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry told CBC News on Wednesday.
Dejaeger is on Interpol’s list of wanted fugitives based on an arrest warrant issued by the Nunavut Court of Justice in 2002.
He is currently wanted on six charges – three counts of indecent assault on a male and three counts of buggery – related to alleged incidents between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik, a remote Arctic community in what is now Nunavut.
A Canadian citizen, Dejaeger has been living freely in Belgium since 1995, after he had served prison time in Canada for sex crimes against children in Baker Lake, another Nunavut community.
The Belgian government official, who did not want to be named, said Dejaeger had not applied for permanent residency in Belgium.
Dejaeger is currently in a detention centre for illegal residents. The government official said Dejaeger will likely be expelled from Belgium, but he could not say when that would happen.
May not be brought to Canada
“According to the law, he should be expelled. So I surely hope that the law will be followed and he will be sent back to Canada,” said Lieve Halsberghe, who leads a Belgian network of church sex-abuse victims.
But Dejaeger could potentially be expelled to another country instead, depending on how he had entered Belgium in the first place, said Gary Botting, a B.C.-based lawyer who specializes in extradition issues.
“How did he enter Belgium? If he entered from France, for example, he could be deported back to France. If he entered through Holland, he could be deported back to Holland,” Botting said.
Even if Belgium wants to expel him to Canada, Botting said Dejaeger could demand that he be formally extradited, which would be a more complicated process than simply expelling him.
Canadian justice officials have declined to comment on Dejaeger’s case, maintaining that extradition requests are confidential.
But Belgian officials have said they are having informal talks with Canada about Dejaeger’s possible extradition.
If this is where this may be going then it’s high time that Dejaeger’s superiors stepped in – they should order him under his vow of obedience to return to Canada immediately and upon arrival turn himself in to stand trial. That’s the right and proper thing to do for all concerned.
A step in the right directions, I think the Canadian government has no choice but to wade into the process now that he effectively is no longer a citizen of that country. As was posted he could go hide somewhere else however the church could not allow that shame to befall them so it may be the next step prior to extraditing this criminal. Very good news.
There is a new Superior General for the Oblates, Father Louis Lougen omi http://www.oblatesai.net/news/Missionary-Oblates-Elect-New-Superior-General.html
I don’t know if Father Lougen has been installed yet, but after installation he will be responsible for ALL Oblates world-wide. I think this may be one of several places to apply pressure to see that Dejaeger is obliged to behave like a priest, stop the legal shenanigans and return to Canada to face his accusers.
I will look for names and contact info over the weekend. If anyone can help please post or send me an email at cornwall@theinquiry.ca
I will try to find contact info for the Superior General of the Order – also the Canadian Oblate superior who would have a say in the goings on here.