Defrocked Catholic priest Eric Dejaeger leaves an Iqaluit courtroom on Jan. 20, 2011, after his first appearance for six child sexual abuse charges in Igloolik, Nunavut, dating back to the 1970s. Dejaeger was arrested in 2023 in Kingston, Ont., and charged with additional sex offences dating back more than four decades. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Windeyer

IQALUIT, Nunavut - The devastating effects of Eric Dejaeger's sexual abuse of seven Inuit children more than four decades ago are being felt a generation later, a judge said Thursday as he handed the former Catholic priest a six-year prison sentence.

Dejaeger pleaded guilty last week to indecent assault against six girls and one boy between 1978 and 1982 in the hamlet of Igloolik, Nvt. He was previously convicted of dozens of other sex offences involving children in Nunavut and Alberta.

"He destroyed their childhood, hurt their relations with their families and ruined their relationship with their church," Justice Faiyaz Alibhai said in his sentencing decision Thursday.

"The trauma reverberated to the next generation, as the children of his victims also suffered from the consequences of his actions."

Court heard harrowing accounts from five abuse survivors, who were between the ages of four and nine when the assaults took place. The two other victims have since died.

The judge paused frequently to allow an interpreter to repeat his words in Inuktitut.

"Virtually all of the victims advised that the offences destroyed their relationship with the Catholic Church, marginalized them, made it difficult for them to communicate with their loved ones, to engage in physical intimacy or to be close to their children," Alibhai said.

"They also became overprotective of their children."

Crown and defence lawyers had jointly recommended the six years.

Dejaeger, 77, stood in court and made brief remarks before he was sentenced.

“I would like to ask for forgiveness for the cruel things I have done," he said.

“I am a changed person. And all the time I have been in prison — I have had a lot of time to think. And also the last 40 years, I have not reoffended.”

Philippe Plourde, the chief federal prosecutor in Nunavut, said he was glad the Public Prosecution Service of Canada was able to have its Nunavut sexual violence prosecution team, crown witness co-ordinator and victims services staff in court to support survivors.

"No sentence will repair the harm done by such atrocious violence, particularly by someone in a position of trust and authority who abused the most vulnerable members of our society, children," Plourde said in a statement.

"However, the courage of everyone who came forward to speak about this abuse goes a long way to ensure that those harmed are heard by the community, and by the offender."

George Dolhai, director of public prosecutions, said the case shows justice can be done no matter how much time has passed.

"This encourages persons who have experienced such abuse to come forward, therefore supporting confidence in the administration of criminal justice."

Dejaeger is subject to a number of sentencing conditions, including a lifetime ban on firearms and other weapons and a lifetime order to register as a sex offender. He also can't attend areas where children are, or could be, present, such as swimming pools and playgrounds. And he can't work or volunteer with them in a position of trust or authority.

Dejaeger is not to have contact with anyone under 16 unless an adult is present the entire time, and he can't use a computer to communicate with a child under 16.

RCMP announced in June 2023 that Dejaeger had been arrested on a Canada-wide warrant in Kingston, Ont., where he had been living. Police said the charges stemmed from investigations conducted between 2011 and 2015.

Alibhai noted Thursday was the fifth time Dejaeger, a former Oblate missionary, has been sentenced for crimes against children.

Dejaeger served part of a five-year sentence, beginning in 1990, for sexual crimes against children in Baker Lake, Nvt., committed between 1982 and 1989.

A year later, he was sentenced to eight months on another two sexual assault counts.

In 2015, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison for 32 crimes against Inuit children and some adults between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik.

Later that year, he was sentenced for historical sexual offences against children in Alberta, with the term to be served concurrently with the earlier Igloolik charges.

He was given statutory release on May 19, 2022, after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 30, 2025.

— By Lauren Krugel in Calgary

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025