Here is what I have learned from reliable sources regarding the status of the Nunavut criminal proceedings against Oblate priest Father Eric Dejaeger
(1) On Monday 09 January 2012 Dejaeger’s lawyer advised the court that Dejaeger does NOT want a preliminary hearing and wants to go directly to trial. Dejaeger wants to be tried by judge alone (he had the option of choosing trial by judge or trial by judge and jury)
It was agreed that the trial will be held in Iqaluit, Nunavut
(2) There are a number of charges on which Dejaeger has not yet been arraigned.
The scheduled 23 January 2012 court date is for arraignment. This is Dejaeger’s first opportunity to tell the court how he wants to be tried. Given that the charges are extremely serious and indictable he has the option of being tried by a judge or by judge and jury. The court has already been told that he wants trial by judge and has opted to forego a preliminary hearing. That will probably be officially firmed up on the 23rd.
I suppose Dejaeger still has opportunity to enter a guilty plea on the 23rd, but, I somehow don’t think this is going to happen.
(3) There will NOT be a preliminary hearing starting 20 February 2012. That is definitely off.
(4) Starting 05 March 2012 there will be applications in court to determine what evidence the Crown attorney can call at trial. The judge will probably take a few days to rule. Once the judge has ruled on these motions the Crown will be able to decide how to proceed at trial, how many and which witnesses to call, and how many days should be booked for the trial, and so on. After that a trial date can be set.
Dejaeger will be present in the Iqaluit courtroom court for these proceedings. It is unknown how long they will last – probably at least two or three days and maybe up to a week.
(5) There are 37 sex-related charges. One of the charges relates to bestiality. There is one additional charge related to his failure to appear in court in 1995 (that’s when Dejaeger fled the country forBelgium) In all therefore Dejaeger is facing 38 charges.
(6) There are 21 complainants, both male and female. I don’t have the gender break-down on complainants.
One male complainant alleges he was abused by Dejaeger inBaker Lake,Nunavut. The remaining complainants – male and female – allege abuse by Dejaeger in Igloolik.
Dejaeger’s Edmonton,Alberta charges will proceed apart from what happens in Iqaluit. Dejaeger’s next scheduled Edmonton court date is 25 January 2012.
These are difficult and confusing times for all the complainants. Please keep them in your prayers.
*****
I have word from a reliable source in Ohio that a preliminary investigation is presently being conducted in that state regarding allegations of sex abuse against Father Phil Jacobs. The case stems from allegations of sex abuse in the 1980s.
There is a statute of limitations in Ohio. I hope and pray that these allegations somehow make it through the net. Others, alas, have not. Keep the complainant in your prayers.
*****
From another reliable source I have learned that ex-priest and convicted molester Brendan Foley has moved to Managua, Nicaragua. Foley, originally from Glasgow. Scotland, was ordained in 1970. “The singing priest” arrived in the Archdiocese of St. John’s Newfoundland in 1977. He left the priesthood in 1986. In 1990 he was charged and convicted for sexually abusing several teenage boys.
Foley, who secured accommodations in Managua within the past week or so, is said to be retiring to Nicaragua because of the cheap cost of living. Foley was born in 1946. He is retirement age.
*****
I will now update the legal calendar and relevant Accused pages.
*****
There are three court dates tomorrow:
(1) Father Linus Bastien for pre-trial. 9:30 am, Courtroom #19. Windsor, Ontario courthouse
(2) Father Kenneth O’Keefe for pre-trial. 10 am. Courtroom #13. Ottawa, Ontario courthouse
(3) Father Yvon Doiron sentencing hearing. 1:30 pm, Campbellton, New Brunswick court house
As always I encourage those who are free to do so to attend. And, as always I ask you to remember the complainants in your prayers, and to pass on any news you see or hear of the outcome of any of the above cases.
Enough for now,
Sylvia
I have added tomorrow’s court dates to the above blog . Fathers Yvon Doiron, Kenneth O’Keefe and Linus Bastien all have court dates tomorrow
Today it is one year since Dejaeger was returned to Canada, after a “holiday” that lasted for almost 16 years. The Belgian oblates had asked him to come on a “holiday” to his homeland in 1995, just before his second trial was to start on June 13 1995. All those years, Dejaeger still belonged to the Canadian province of the oblates. And his colleagues in Belgium still claim they did not know anything about the criminal charges against him.
One year after his return there have been so many additional charges, that we all have lost count. Sylvia told me last year: “they can run, but they can no longer hide”.
True, thanks to Sylvia and her website, so many hurting survivors have found the courage to file a complaint about what happened to them as a child. With that complaint they reinforce the complaints of the survivors who talked in 1994 and give others courage to come forward, like the survivors of Edmonton.
I have launched several calls for witnesses of abuse that might have happened prior to 1973 or post 1995, in Europe, but sofar nothing. In Belgium there is, unfortunately, a statute of limitations. Survivors needs to talk to the police before their 33th birthday if they want the perpetrator prosecuted. That is way too early for most.
There is hope, however that in Belgium some of the truth on these horrible crimes against children will be revealed. A very tenacious judge, Wim De Troy, is executing search warrants in all dioceses and lots of religious orders. the searches started on Monday and went on Tuesday and today. We expect tomorrow the other end of the country will be dealt with (we have a country so small you can easily walk through in 4 days).
We will be really hopeful if all this information found in the search warrants will lead to the revealing of the truth. So that people will finally realize the extent of these crimes. So that the perpetrators can be caught and punished, along with the ones who cover up the crimes.
In almost two years, so many pieces of the Dejaeger puzzle have been found, thanks to so many people we know and others anonymous. Thanks so much to you all.
Anyone who would still have information, please share with the police.
Lieve Halsberghe
SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
http://www.snapnetwork.org
Despite a statue of limitations you still have a magistrate that will issue such orders.. looking forward to hearing what is released as result..It appears that the valued characteristics to be a person of the cloth is to be cunning, deceitful and lecherous or at the very least these people have taken root in an organization without anybody within it’s ranks knowing anything. Sounds like Sergeant Shultz from the sit comedy Stalag 13 “I see nothing, I hear nothing” In terms of Dejeager I am certain other people have been subject to his abuse yet have not come forward yet. I know for sure that the Church paid off some people in repulse bay… I wonder if these documents where seized they could proceed criminally based on the settlements?
The good thing about this sad affair is I got to meet you, Sylvia and reconnected to some friends in the arctic. Always nice to see your posts here and to share those from other sites.. Keep up the great work Lieve !
Good words, Lieve. Keep up the good work at SNAP!
Sylvia, I’ve found your blog interesting. Brenda Foley lived in my mothers house for over 14 years and was a terrible selfish man whom I believe had a hand in her death.
He stood to gain financially from her death as he under oth stated he had taken money. He gained over 250,000 from her death through forged documents.
I am currently taking legal action against the firm that handled my late mothers money.
he is a deceitful character whom I suspected was up to know good for years.
Regards
Grant