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Retired priest accused of sexual assault at Manitoba residential school
pleads not guilty
Arthur Masse, 92, charged with assaulting 10-yo girl at Fort Alexander school
more than 50 years ago
Rachel Bergen ·
CBC News ·
Posted: Aug 17, 2022 4:57 PM CT
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
A retired priest accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl at a Manitoba residential school more than 50 years ago has pleaded not guilty.
Arthur Masse, now 92, was not in the Powerview, Man., court on Wednesday, but entered his plea through his lawyer. His case will go to a Court of Queen's Bench judge-only trial in Winnipeg, but a trial date has not been set.
Masse was arrested in June after a decade-long investigation and now faces one charge of indecent assault.
Why did it take 10 years to investigate this? Were they hoping Masse would die of old age?
RCMP say the victim was a student at Fort Alexander residential school in Sagkeeng First Nation, in eastern Manitoba, where Masse worked.
Police haven't named the victim, but 63-year-old Victoria McIntosh, of Sagkeeng First Nation, says she was the child at the centre of this case.
Victoria McIntosh, who says she was assaulted by Masse more than 50 years ago, stands outside the Powerview, Man., court on Wednesday. She said she'll be at every court hearing and hopes to speak directly to Masse. (Radio-Canada)
"I'll be there every step of the way. I made a commitment, so I'm going to keep that," she said outside the Powerview court on Wednesday.
"Mr. Masse, come out and speak your truth as well, and I'll speak mine."
At a court hearing in Powerview last month, Sagkeeng Chief Derrick Henderson requested that the courts work with the community to have a sentencing circle for Masse, which would have been contingent on him pleading guilty.
A sentencing circle is a community-directed restorative justice process conducted in partnership with the justice system, based on the belief that a crime is an offence against an entire community, not just a victim.
Marilyn Courchene, who attended day school at Fort Alexander when Masse worked there, stood alongside McIntosh outside the Powerview courthouse on Wednesday. She said she wished the retired priest took part in a sentencing circle.
"Our way would have been in a circle, our way would have been to listen, our way would have been to use the seven teachings," Courchene said.
"Our way would have been, at the end of the day, open with forgiveness, and I think both parties would have benefited."
It's not clear if Masse declined to participate in a sentencing circle, or if that choice wasn't presented to him.
Chief Henderson said Wednesday he expected Masse to plead not guilty, and community members will continue to attend court hearings alongside McIntosh.
"We'll be there behind Victoria and her family until this process is completed. There's a lot of support from the community, from outside the community," he said.
When a date is set for the trial, Henderson says Sagkeeng leadership will organize transportation so people who want to attend the trial don't have to worry about getting to Winnipeg.
"We need to make sure that justice is done for our people."
Masse has another court date set for Sept. 14, but it's expected to be administrative in nature.
Not enough evidence to investigate Quebec cardinal
accused of sexual assault, Pope says
Cardinal Marc Ouellet faces allegations in recent civil lawsuit
CBC News ·
Posted: Aug 18, 2022 11:53 AM ET
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, right, meets with the Pope on a weekly basis as part of his functions in the Vatican.
(Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)
The Vatican says there is insufficient evidence to open a church investigation into Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the former archbishop of Quebec, despite a recent class action accusing him and some 88 other clergy members of sexual abuse and misconduct.
A spokesperson for Pope Francis, Matteo Bruni, made the announcement in a statement Thursday morning.
Ouellet, who works at the Vatican and is seen as a potential successor to the Pope, is accused by a woman identified as "F" in the lawsuit of unwanted touching and kissing, as well as sexual harassment.
In its statement, the Vatican says theologian Jacques Servais, who was tasked with conducting a preliminary investigation into the allegations, found no evidence that warranted further disciplinary measures.
"There are no grounds to open an investigation into [allegations] of sexual assault on the person F. by [Ouellet]," Servais said in the statement. "Not in her written report to the Holy Father, nor in [her] testimony on Zoom."
F is one of more than 100 alleged victims represented by the class-action lawsuit. The plaintiffs say they were sexually assaulted, most of them as minors, by priests and other staff working for the archdiocese since 1940.
Most of the assaults allegedly took place in the '50s and '60s, court documents say.
The Archdiocese of Quebec declined to comment on the case as it is before the courts, but its spokesperson René Tessier said the Vatican is not opposed to reopening an investigation if new evidence is presented.
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