Sexual assault case against retired Catholic priest in P.E.I. deferred until late March
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SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A retired Catholic priest going through historic sexual assault expenses gained’t have his case referred to as once more till late subsequent month.
Maurice Joseph Praught, 70, of Stratford, P.E.I., had his case referred to as briefly in provincial court docket in Summerside on Feb. 8, just for it to be deferred till March 29 for an additional replace.
Praught’s lawyer indicated there are ongoing discussions with the Crown prosecutor in addition to additional disclosure of proof to be sorted by way of. The additional weeks have been requested to accommodate that work.
A publication ban is in place that forestalls the distribution of any data which might determine any victims on this case.
Praught is going through expenses in reference to alleged sexual assaults that occurred over 4 years within the Nineties.
He’s going through three counts of sexual assault and 6 counts of sexual exploitation. The entire expenses are associated to the identical sufferer, who was reportedly 14 years outdated on the time the offences began. The incidents allegedly came about between 1993 and 1997 within the Summerside space.
Summerside Police Companies started an investigation after the Diocese of Charlottetown reported the alleged incidents in Could 2022. Praught had already been faraway from his duties.
Through the investigation, police discovered some alleged offences could have been dedicated in different areas of P.E.I., and RCMP joined the investigation.
Colin MacLean is a reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. He will be reached by e mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @JournalPMacLean.
