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	Canadian Police Reopens Case against Fr Godwin Scerri By David Lindsay Malta Independent April 18, 2010 http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=104775 Extradition from Malta to be sought In a new twist to the Maltese case of clerical abuse that has swept across the Maltese and international media over the last two weeks in the lead up to yesterday's arrival of Pope Benedict XVI, the Ontario Provincial Police said on Thursday that it has reopened its case against Fr Godwin Scerri. Fr Scerri is one of the three clergy members standing accused in the Maltese courts of having committed sexual abuse at the St Joseph's orphanage in Sta Venera. The case has been the cause of widespread media attention on Malta after one of the former orphans, Lawrence Grech, wrote to the Vatican requesting a papal apology this weekend. So far, no confirmation of a meeting between the Pope and the victims has been forthcoming, with a Vatican spokesperson this week saying that while no such meeting was on the Pope's agenda, the Pontiff could be likely to meet victims privately "in a climate of prayer and reflection, not under media pressure". Fr Scerri had been accused of sexually abusing minors between 1983 and 1987 when he served in the environs of Windsor, Ontario. In a statement to the Canadian press on Thursday, an Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson was quoted as saying, "Allegations from the case recently came to light so it has been resurrected as a cold case. We are looking for any information we can get." The spokesperson added that the Ontario police would like to see him extradited from Malta to Canada to face charges there, and that a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Fr Scerri was still valid. Fr Scerri was charged in June 1993 with sexual assault and gross indecency following complaints filed by a man who was 22 years old at the time of charging. Fr Scerri had since moved back to Malta and has, as such, avoided prosecution in Canada. The Ontario police, however, appear ready to now take matters further and file an extradition request for Fr Scerri. Such a request, however, would impinge on his current court proceedings in Malta where he has been facing charges, along with two other members of the clergy, in what has been described a protracted seven-year court case involving the alleged abuse of 10 former orphans. The Canadian complainant alleged the abuse occurred between 1983 and 1987, beginning when the complainant was 12 years old, on Pelee Island and Emeryville when Fr Scerri worked as a priest at St William's Church. He never faced charges since he had returned to Malta in the interim period, and was then transferred to the St Joseph orphanage in Sta Venera, where he has been accused of having committed similar offences.
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