Ex-priest given 19-year prison term for child sex abuse
A court in Canada has handed down a 19-year prison term to a defrocked Roman Catholic priest for sexually abusing children.
On Wednesday, Eric Dejaeger was sentenced to 19 years in jail for committing sex crimes against Inuit children in the distant Canadian community of Igloolik where he worked as a missionary around 35 years ago.
"An exemplary sentence is needed to reflect not only the high moral blameworthiness associated with the crimes, but to denounce and deter sexual offences against children and adolescent," read the verdict issued by Justice Robert Kilpatrick.
Back in September, Belgian-born Dejaeger was found guilty of 31 of over 70 counts of sexual abuse charges against him.
The former priest was also convicted of one count of bestiality with a sled dog during his stay at the Canadian Arctic.
Over 20 of his victims attended the trial, testifying that Dejaeger had threatened them with hellfire in case of rejecting his sexual advances and exposing his depravity.
Dejaeger was arrested and returned to Canada by Belgian authorities in January 2011 on immigration charges.
Rights groups have lashed out at the Vatican for the manner of its handling of Catholic priests’ child sex abuse cases.
The Roman Catholic Church has been hit by numerous scandals all over the world in the past few years, including allegations of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests to protect the pedophiles as well as its own reputation.
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