CANADA
The Province
BY BOB WEBER, THE CANADIAN PRESS NOVEMBER 18, 2013
IQALUIT, Nunavut – A witness at the trial of a priest facing dozens of sexual abuse charges involving Inuit children testified Monday that the girls in her community were forced to devise a foul way to stop him.
CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT FOLLOWS AND MAY DISTURB SOME READERS.
The woman, who can’t be named under a court order, told a pin-drop silent courtroom that the only thing the girls could think of to stop Eric Dejaeger’s attacks was to defecate on him.
Dejaeger pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assault when his trial began Monday in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Testimony began on the remaining 69 charges he faces, including sexual abuse, indecent assault, making threats and confinement.
The woman described her home town of Igloolik, Nunavut, as a friendly place between 1978 and 1982, when the assaults were alleged to have occurred.
She said it was common for children to gather at the Catholic church, where they had room to play and were given crayons and pictures to colour.
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