OAKVILLE (CANADA)
InSauga [Ontario, Canada]
August 20, 2026
By Ryan Rumbolt
The “priestly faculties” of a Catholic minister have been restored after an allegation of sexual assault was dropped, but the pastor won’t be returning to his old post in Oakville, an Ontario diocese says.
Back in March, the Halton Regional Police Service announced that Ranjan D’Sa, 53, of Oakville, had been charged with one count of sexual assault.
A member of the clergy since 2010, the Diocese of Hamilton said Friar D’Sa “was immediately removed” from his duties at St. Dominic Parish in Oakville after the charge was made public.
But the diocese now says D’Sa can return to his “priestly ministry” after the allegation was dropped late last month.
The case was withdrawn at the request of the Crown Attorney’s Office in July, and D’Sa “has no outstanding criminal charges,” the diocese says in a statement to INsauga.com.
Halton police also confirmed in a statement to INsauga.com that the case has been withdrawn by the court.
The diocese says D’sa has been “maintaining his innocence since the beginning of the investigation” and “was presumed innocent in the matter.”
“We wish to make public the withdrawal of the charge against Fr. D’Sa to assist in restoring his reputation and declare that he is a priest in good standing with the faculties necessary to continue to exercise his priestly ministry, according to the wishes of his religious community.”
Police said the investigation began in February after officers received a report about the sexual assault of a volunteer at an Oakville church. D’Sa started working at St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic Church in Oakville in 2016, according to information the church’s website that has since been removed.
There is no statute of limitation for reporting a sexual assault in Ontario, and anyone who has been a victim can contact their local police or resources like the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault.