Sentenced in 2015 to 19 years in prison for 32 sexual crimes against children and the elderly, Eric Dejaeger found freedom: his request for parole was granted.
He still had 11 years to serve when the Parole Board of Canada approved his parole request on May 19, APTN reports.
The commission relied on a psychological risk assessment conducted in 2018 that said the former priest was at moderate risk for sexual recidivism, and low to moderate risk for recidivism in general.
The Canadian Parole Board said Eric Dejaeger had make limited, measurable and noticeable progress in its risk managementbut continues to deny responsibility for many of his crimes.
The sexual predator pleaded guilty to 8 sex -related cases, and he was also convicted of 24 other offenses, including indecent assault, sexual assault and bestiality. Most of the acts in which he was accused took place between 1978 and 1982 at Igloolik, where he exercised his duties as a priest.
Among the conditions imposed by the commission for his release, Eric Dejaeger will not be allowed to be with children, will not be able to communicate with his victims, and will have to follow a treatment plan and report all of his relationships. and friendship with women.
He would also have to return each night to a designated establishment, even if he objected to it. The priest imposed this restriction on him because he had already fled justice in Belgium in 2002 when he was under a warrant of arrest. He was released to Canada in 2011 to face trial.
In 2015, he was also convicted of child molestation in Alberta, and in 1990 of child molestation in Baker Lake, Nunavut.
With information from April Hudson
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
