Ex-priest, Oblate and thrice convicted molester Eric Dejeager will be sentenced today.
04 February 2015: Eric Dejaeger sentencing: Judge’s decision expected today
Justice Kilpatrick will sentence Dejeager this afternoon at 1:30 pm EST.
04 February 2015: 1:30 pm, sentencing, Iqaluit courthouse, Iqaluit, Nunavut
I was poring through articles and documents trying to sort out who his defence lawyers were, and who the Crowns and judges were as Dejaeger was charged and charged again.
I concluded that Dejaeger has lived a rather charmed life legally.
For example, in one instance while in jail and convicted again, the sentence “imposed” by Justice Ted Richard was to run concurrent to that which Dejaeger was already serving.
In another case a trial date was set for July 1993 and, – well – it was just, cancelled.
And then of course the 1995 charges, and well, in that case Dejaeger was just plain gone – with, it seems, a little help from a few good friends both in and out the Church. (Yes, that was the failure to appear charge which was laid with all of those other charges and never saw the light of day.)
After he fled the country to elude justice and return to this native Belgium, Dejaeger, a wanted man and known molester, lived foot-loose and fancy-free for the next 15 years or so. His Oblate brethren knew where he was. Heaven only knows who else knew where he was. It mattered not.
Would that the victims had had as many helpful souls looking out for their legal interests over the past years as Dejeaeger did.
Anyway, here we are now, four years after Dejeager was deported from his native land and returned to Canada, waiting with baited breath for a verdict.
I earnestly pray that justice is done in some small measure for the countless souls who suffered at the hands of this sad and perverted excuse for a human being who masqueraded as a priest.
We shall see…
Please keep Dejeager’s many many victims in your prayers.
Enough for now,
Sylvia
A prayer for today:
“Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many journalists, advocates, RCMP, — those with a passion of having the voices of Eric de Jaeger’s victims heard. They perservered; they did what bureaucrats were unwilling/unable to do, they were a light in a dark place. We thank you for them today. Amen”
Een gebed voor vandaag:
“Hemelse Vader, wij dank u voor de vele mensen die de slachtoffers van Eric de Jager gesteund hebben door ervoor te zorgen dat hun mishandeling niet langer verborgen bleef maar voor het gerecht gebracht werd. Zij die hiervoor streden waren een licht in de duisternis. We danken U voor hen. Amen”
19 years – 8 years credit for time served. He will do 11 years.
Good news indeed! Good news!!
Not nearly enough for everything he did, not nearly enough !!
I hope the survivors feel in their hearts they have been heard, at last it is done!.
Awesome news! It won’t cure or stop the hurt but will go a long way towards healing them.
Here is Justice Kilpatrick’s Reasons for Judgement, in essence his explanation of the 19 year sentence. I haven’t read it yet myself. Will do so now.
30 January 2015: R v Dejeager 2015 Reasons for Judgment (Justice Kilpatrick’s explanation for the 19 year sentence)
I have to admit that I shed a few tears as I read through this judgement decision… Sad for the victim’s suffering? Their immeasurable frustration during the years he jumped bail? Hope for their continued recovery and ultimately finding some sense of peace? Relief that this monster will finally get to pay for his crimes? (at least pay something, even though it is never enough!)… Admiration for Justice Kilpatrick’s no-nonsense judgement, acknowledging DeJeager’s responsibility of creating his own “age-related mitigating factors” and ignoring his “good behaviour” during his years evading justice…
Yes… it stirs many emotions. And also gives hope that justice will prevail in upcoming processes.
I was reminded of Sylvia’s account of her trip to Iqualuit last year, of her seeing this man in court with her own eyes, and reporting what she saw… Thank you for making this more real for us all – and for all to better understand the plight and suffering of the victims. For me, you made the DeJeager process even more personal and inclusive – and will help with the healing process.
My thoughts to all of his victims. May they find peace and a way to move forward with their lives.
jj
And finally, the edmonton charges?
He has a court date on the Edmonton charges this coming Friday (06 Feb ’15)
There may well be a plea deal in the offing now: guilty to those charges in exchange for concurrent sentence. IF that happens there will be an agreed upon statement of facts read into the record.
We shall see…
Should that be so, Sylvia, we need celebrate the Nunavut victory and see the Edmonton charges (if exchanged) in that light. Much discussion in Nunavut and NWT right now. Painful but so appreciative of what today has brought.