WARNING: This story accommodates graphic particulars of kid sexual assault that could be disturbing for some readers
A former Catholic priest’s intercourse assaults on Inuit kids many years in the past in Nunavut reworked a as soon as pleasant and trusting hamlet of Igloolik into a spot marred by anger and habit, courtroom heard Thursday.
Wails and shouts could possibly be heard within the Iqaluit courtroom the place Eric Dejaeger pleaded responsible to indecent assaults towards six ladies and one boy between 1978 and 1982. He’d beforehand been convicted of dozens of offences towards kids and a few adults.
A girl, whose kin had been abused by Dejaeger and was in courtroom to supply help, learn a sufferer impression assertion describing the hurt performed to the tight-knit neighborhood.
“I grew up in Igloolik, in a good looking setting (the place) all people is aware of all people, greeting one another with smiles and laughter. There was a lot respect for one another in that neighborhood,” she stated.
“In the present day, that setting is gone … The as soon as joyful neighborhood is now crammed with anger, disrespect, abuse and psychological sickness.”
She referred to as Dejaeger a “sick monster.”
“I’m not going to inform you to rot in hell, however I hope they throw you in a small room with vicious husky canines they usually rip you up alive.”
Indecent assault is now not listed as an offence below the Legal Code however was on the time the offences occurred.
Prosecutor Emma Baasch described every of the assaults in graphic element within the Nunavut Courtroom of Justice. Baasch spoke of horrific intercourse acts. Kids had been as younger as 4 when the abuse started, she stated. One complainant described blacking out from the ache.
In some instances, it started with the priest providing the youngsters sweet. Courtroom heard Dejaeger gave an image to a lady to color earlier than taking her on his lap and assaulting her. It was of Jesus giving somebody a flower.
Of 1 sufferer, the prosecutor stated, “Mr. Dejaeger informed her she would go to hell if she stated something.”
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Baasch stated Dejaeger informed one other woman “that Jesus wouldn’t settle for her anymore” if she informed anybody what occurred.
A girl who stated the abuse began when she was six years previous stated she would urinate on herself to guard herself. The extra it smelled, the safer she felt.
“I might let it dry and do the identical factor once more. I refused to vary my underwear and my pants,” she stated.
“I wished revenge for the little woman he damage. I wished revenge as a result of the little woman was scared. I don’t need revenge anymore.
“I’m 51 years previous and I’m not just a little woman anymore and I’m not scared anymore.”
Some delivering sufferer impression statements spoke of how they’ll now not set foot in a Catholic church or let their kids accomplish that.
“I don’t wish to go to church anymore, even when it’s an important day,” one lady stated in her sufferer impression assertion.
“I hate seeing new clergymen come to our neighborhood. I hate the scent of the incense that the Catholic church makes use of.”
She stated she not too long ago discovered her start certificates and that she deliberate to burn it as a result of she thinks Dejaeger might have baptized her.
“I’ll now verify and burn it, even when Eric’s title isn’t on it as a result of it comes from the Catholic church.”
An image of that lady when she was 5 years previous was introduced to the courtroom as an exhibit, and pained wailing could possibly be heard within the video convention of the courtroom proceedings.
“Look! I hope you acknowledge her,” a girl could possibly be heard shouting. “She’s harmless. How would you contact a five-year-old?”
Some ladies described feeling uneasy receiving bodily affection from boyfriends or husbands and utilizing medicine and alcohol to ease the ache. In addition they stated they’re afraid of canines as a result of Dejaeger had one.
RCMP introduced in June 2023 that Dejaeger had been arrested on a Canada-wide warrant in Kingston, Ont., the place he had been residing. They stated the costs stemmed from investigations carried out between 2011 and 2015.
He was beforehand convicted of committing quite a few sexual offences while working as an Oblate missionary.
Dejaeger served a part of a five-year sentence, starting in 1990, for sexual crimes towards kids in Baker Lake, Nvt., dedicated between 1982 and 1989.
In 2015, he was sentenced to 19 years in jail for 32 crimes towards Inuit kids and a few adults between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik. The offences included indecent assault, illegal confinement and bestiality.
Later that yr, he was additionally sentenced for historic sexual offences towards kids in Alberta, to be served concurrently together with his sentence for the sooner Igloolik costs.
He was given statutory launch on Might 19, 2022, after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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