Crown withdraws sex assault charges against Pembroke priest

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  The Ottawa Citizen

13 November 2013

OTTAWA — The charges against a 72-year-old Pembroke priest accused of a historic sexual assault were withdrawn in court on Tuesday.

Father Howard Chabot was charged in July with sexual assaulting a boy and gross indecency after allegations were made to police about an 1985 incident.

Chabot’s lawyer, Mark Huckabone, said Wednesday the charges were withdrawn after Crown attorney Jason Nicol conceded there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

Chabot was a priest at Holy Name Parish in Pembroke, but he had also worked as a chaplain with the police force for 20 years.

Bruce Pappin, a spokesman for the Pembroke diocese, said in July that Chabot was ordained as a priest in 1968.

Chabot retired in 2005 from Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Pembroke because of heart problems.

Chabot was the fourth priest in recent history in the Pembroke diocese to face historical sexual assault charges.

Msgr. Robert Borne was handed a nine-month conditional sentence last year for indecently assaulting a local teen more than 30 years ago.

Daniel Miller, a retired Ottawa Valley priest, was charged with three counts each of gross indecency and indecent assault for offences that occurred between 1970 and 1980.

The alleged victims in that case were preteen boys and one man.

In January 2008, Msgr. Bernard Prince was found guilty of molesting 13 young boys between 1964 and 1984. The prominent priest had previously held a Vatican post.

mhurley@ottawacitizen.com

twitter.com/meghan_hurley

3 Responses to Crown withdraws sex assault charges against Pembroke priest

  1. Paula Brenner says:

    Why is Father Chabot still on your page? Are you dispensing news or being vindictive because of a problem you have? Pretty sure this won’t show up on your page.

Leave a Reply to Paula Brenner Cancel reply