The Western Star (Cornerbrook, Newfoundland)
Published on June 2nd, 2010
Deer Lake -
RCMP say there is more than one alleged victim of sexual abuse relating to past Deer Lake Catholic priest Rev. George Smith.
Sgt. Jacques Morneau of the Deer Lake RCMP has a busy couple of days slotted with phone calls and meetings from people across the country which he believes are connected to sexual abuse allegations targeted at Smith.
One meeting will unveil the complainant’s identity who contacted the Corner Brook and Labrador Roman Catholic Diocese last month alleging sexual abuse from Smith during the priest’s time serving at Immaculate Conception Parish between 1986 and 1991. The man doesn’t live in the province but his contact information will be handed over to police.
“They made contact with the church and forwarded a letter (to the RCMP) where he stated that he’s willing to talk to police about what happened to him now. So I will find out the identity of that person,” said Morneau.
Morneau said today he will be contacting someone who was allegedly abused by Smith while he was serving in Stephenville in the 1970s.
“I only know of one person that might be contacting me (Wednesday) and another one I have a phone number to call a person out of the province,” said Morneau.
The out-of-province call is from an individual in British Columbia, Morneau said. Although he isn’t sure what the discussion will be about, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if it was related to the growing abuse allegations surrounding Smith.
“We haven’t got an official complaint yet from anybody.”
“The thing is, I’m only the central repository for the information … If this (ends up involving) multiple victims with different jurisdictions, we’re probably going to ask for a major crime unit to assist us with the investigation,” said Morneau.
“Right now, I’m just gathering facts for the time being and I’ll submit my report to headquarters, and we’ll decide how we proceed from there,” he said.
Smith came out of retirement last year to serve at St. Malachy’s Church in Kinkora, P.E.I. but last month was suspended from his duties following an abuse allegation while he was serving in Deer Lake.
This article is a few months old, but it is informative and a reminder that this investigation has been under way for several months.