Flemish priest convicted of sexually assaulting Inuit children

Flemish priest convicted of sexually assaulting Inuit children
Belgian Eric Dejaeger (Left) arrives for his trial in Nunavut, Canada, Friday 12 September 2014. Former priest, Eric Dejaeger, was found guilty to 24 of the 76 complaints of sexual abuse involving Inuit children. Credit: Belga / Peter Worden

Eric Dejaeger, a former Catholic priest of Belgian origin, was sentenced to six years in prison in Canada on Thursday for sexual violence against minors, according to several Canadian media outlets.

Between 1978 and 1982, the man assaulted seven children aged four to nine in the Nunavut region, in the far northeast of Canada. This is his fifth conviction for sexual violence in this country.

The court in Igloolik, 350 kilometres from the Arctic Circle, found Dejaeger, originally from Roeselare (West Flanders), guilty of raping and assaulting seven Inuit children: six girls and a boy. The priest is said to have abused his role, considered prestigious within the small Inuit community.

"He destroyed their childhood, damaged their relationships with their family and severed their connection with the Church," said Judge Faiyaz Alibhai in his verdict. "He preyed on children." The latter also described the defendant as a "calculated predator."

The prosecution and Dejaeger's lawyers have each proposed a six-year prison sentence. The disgraced former priest initially pled not guilty, before recanting during the trial. Admission of guilt is considered a mitigating factor in legal proceedings in Canada.

This is the septuagenarian's fifth conviction in Canada for sexual assault of minors. He was first imprisoned in 1990 for assaulting several children in Baker Lake between 1982 and 1989, and again in 1991 for two other cases of sexual assault, which earned him eight months in detention.

Related News

In 2015, Dejaeger was sentenced to another 19 years in prison for 32 sexual assaults committed in the Arctic community of Igloolik between 1978 and 1982. Most of the victims were between the ages of six and nine at the time of the events.

Due to the time he spent in preventive detention, he had 11 years left to serve at the time of his conviction. That same year, he was also convicted of four assaults committed against minors in Edmonton. In 2022, the Flemish priest was released on bail, which involved his housing in a semi-open detention centre.


Latest News

Copyright © 2025 The Brussels Times. All Rights Reserved.