CANADA
CBC News
A support group for people abused by priests says it is disappointed with the conditional sentence handed to a former Roman Catholic priest in Victoria who sexually touched a teenage boy.
Phil Jacobs will serve five months of house arrest, followed by two years probation.
A spokesperson for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the sentence does not reflect the damage Jacobs has done.
Leona Huggins said the crime has shaken the faith of the victim, his family and members of St. Joseph’s the Worker Church in Victoria, where Jacobs was a parish priest from 1997 until 2001.
“I’m baffled that the courts don’t understand the nature of this crime,” she said. “This is a very minimal sentence, but it really shows a lack of understanding.”
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