Former priest faces fresh sex assault charges in Nunavut

A former priest, who was previously convicted on dozens of sex abuse charges in Nunavut and Alberta, has been arrested again and will be sent to Iqaluit to face further sexual assault charges.

Eric Dejaeger, 76,is now facing eight counts of historical sexual assault in Nunavut, stemmingfrom investigations conducted between 2011 and 2015, according to Nunavut RCMP.

Police gave no details about when and where the alleged assaultsoccurred.

In2015, the former Oblate priestwas convictedof 32 counts of sexually abusing people in Igloolik, Nunavut, many of them children. Later that same year, he was convicted of sexually abusing children in Alberta inthe 1970s.

In May 2022, he was released from prison in Kingston,Ont. On Wednesday, Kingston police arrested Dejaeger again.

Dejaeger, who was born in Belgium, became a Canadian citizen in 1977 and went to the territory as an Oblate priest.

Before his trial for the Igloolik crimes, Dejaeger had served part of a five-year sentence for sex charges stemming from a posting in Baker Lakebetween 1982 and 1989.

Father Ken Thorson with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate told CBC by email the Oblates "condemn any acts of sexual abuse, including those that Eric Dejaeger is alleged to have committed."

"At this point, we have not yet been contacted by police, but we are fully committed to co-operating with authorities as this process continues."