CANADA
Edmonton Journal
By Zev Singer and Teresa Smith, Ottawa Citizen February 14, 2013
OTTAWA — The Archbishop of Ottawa has suspended a Catholic priest who was to appear in court Thursday morning on charges of sexually abusing a seven-year-old boy in the 1970s.
The priest, 76-year-old Jacques Faucher of Gatineau, was charged Wednesday with gross indecency and indecent assault on a male for a “series of inappropriate contacts” with the boy that are alleged to have occurred between 1971 and 1973. He was to have a bail hearing Thursday morning.
In a statement released Thursday, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast said: “On learning that Fr. Jacques Faucher has been charged with criminal misconduct in relation to a minor, I want to advise our Catholic faithful, and the wider community, that I have suspended him from all ministry and prohibited him from representing himself as a Catholic priest.”
Police say the investigation, which began in November 2012, is ongoing and detectives are asking anyone with information to come forward.
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