Friday, January 11, 2008

Retired priest to plead guilty to sex assault on boys

A retired priest and former Vatican official intends to plead guilty to at least two of 13 indecent and sexual assault charges against him, an Ontario court heard Tuesday.

The revelation about the impending guilty pleas came from Crown prosecutor John Pepper during the second day of testimony in Msgr. Bernard Prince's trial into a single count of indecent assault.

According to Pepper, Prince intends to plead guilty in at least two cases involving men who Monday provided the court with similar-fact evidence that the now 72-year-old former priest fondled or engaged in other inappropriate sexual behaviour with them when they were teenagers.

Prince was originally to stand trial on 13 counts of indecent or sexual assault, but the matter was severed into two separate proceedings on Monday.

Prince elected to go to trial after entering a plea of not guilty to a single count of indecent assault for alleged sexual assaults on a young male that occurred at his Ottawa Valley cabin and an Ottawa apartment between 1976 and 1979.

The other 12 charges, which include the two matters to which Prince is now expected to plead guilty, will be dealt with at a later date 00 likely either later this week or early next.

On Monday, the two men, who cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban, testified they were sexual assaulted by the retired Pembroke-area priest who was personal friends with the late Pope John Paul II and once held a senior post at the Vatican in Italy.

The first man, who is now 43, testified Prince slid his hand into his pants, touched his genitals and attempted to masturbate him during a visit to the priest's cabin when he was 15 years old.

The sexual assault allegedly occurred after he and the priest went skinny dipping in the cabin's pool.

The second man, who is now 40 years old, testified Prince attempted to touch his genitals while the two were sharing a bed at the priest's Ottawa apartment when he was between 12 and 14 years old.

According to the man, Prince's attempts to grab his privates came after the two had watched a pornographic movie the priest had rented from a nearby video store. Both men testified they never told anyone about the assaults until after police launched an investigation.
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