Priest guilty of sex assault charges
| Canwest News Service |
Monday, January 14, 2008
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PEMBROKE, Ont. - A retired priest and former Vatican official is guilty of sexually molesting 13 young boys.
Msgr. Bernard Prince, 72, pleaded guilty Monday to 12 charges of indecent or sexual assault that occurred over a 20-year period between 1964 and 1984.
Justice Julie-Ann Parfett also found him guilty of a 13th charge of indecent assault.
Following the guilty verdict on the single charge, Prince entered his plea on the 12 additional counts.
"Guilty your honour," Prince repeated a dozen times.
According to the information filed in court, nine of the 12 additional charges occurred in the Killaloe, Ont. area - about 170 kilometres west of Ottawa.
Three of the assaults occurred in the nation's capital.
A_total of 12 of the 13 victims, and their families, were in the packed courtroom to hear the verdicts.
An agreed statement of facts is expected to be read into the record Monday along with victim-impact statements of nine of the now grown men victimized by Prince.
An agreed statement of facts is expected to be read into the record Monday along with victim-impact statements of nine of the now grown men victimized by Prince.
A bench warrant had been issued for Prince, who had been living near Rome, in mid-October 2005, after police laid initial charges of buggery and indecent assault for the alleged assault of a then-12-year-
Prince was arrested at Montreal's Trudeau Airport in February 2006 after returning to Canada from Italy to face the charges in connection with the first alleged victim.
Prince was ordained in 1963.
His career included posts at the Vatican as the secretary general of the pontifical work for the propagation of faith until his retirement more than three years ago. He had lived in Italy since 1991.
He had also worked at parishes in Arnprior, Ont. and Pembroke, Ont. before he took a posting in Ottawa.
He later worked at the Canadian Conference of Bishops in Ottawa and taught at Saint Paul University before moving to Toronto as director of Canada's Pontifical Mission Society.