Sentencing hearing starts in Iqaluit for Arctic priest guilty of sex abuse

CANADA
Bay Today

The Canadian Press

IQALUIT, Nunavut — A sentencing hearing for a defrocked priest convicted of dozens of horrific sex crimes against Inuit children has started under heavy security.

Observers at the hearing for Eric Dejaeger must pass through a metal detector and have their bags searched if they want to enter the courtroom, a highly unusual move for Iqaluit courts.

Victim impacts statements are expected to take two days.

Dejaeger was convicted on 32 counts of various child sex-abuse crimes ranging from indecent assault to bestiality dating back to the 1970s and ’80s in Igloolik, Nunavut.

Victims are blaming Dejaeger for a wide variety of lingering physical and mental scars.

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