NEWS: Nunavut January 18, 2011 – 8:14 pm
Belgium to expel former Nunavut priest
NUNATSIAQ NEWS
Eric Dejaeger, a former Nunavut priest who faces six sex charges related to his time in Igloolik in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is due to be expelled soon from Belgium, where he has lived and worked since 1995.
Dejaeger, who had been jailed in 1990 on charges of sexually molesting children in Baker Lake, faced six new Igloolik-based sex charges in 1995, when he had served out his jail time.
But he failed to show up for a court appearance schedule for June 19, 1995. Some time before that date, Dejaeger fled Canada for Belgium, where he worked openly for the Roman Catholic church.
Last year, the Belgian government discovered that Dejaeger renounced his Belgian citizenship years ago when he became a Canadian citizen, and that he had for many years been living illegally in their country.
Belgian police arrested Dejaeger Jan. 3 and held him in a detention facility for illegal migrants in the city of Bruges, pending his expulsion from Belgium.
In a statement issued Jan. 18, the Nunavut RCMP said police will escort Dejaeger to Iqaluit for a court appearance as soon as he arrives back in Canada, but for security reasons they did not give a date.
The Oblate priest faces six counts, including indecent assault and buggery, related to his time in Igloolik.
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