A 92-year-old Roman Catholic priest has been charged in connection with a decade-long sexual abuse investigation into a former Indian Residential School, Manitoba police said at a press conference Friday.
Retired father Arthur Masse is accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl at the former Fort Alexander residential school. The incident is alleged to have occurred between 1968 and 1970, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.
Masse was arrest at his home in Winnipeg, Thursday, police said following an investigation that began in 2011.
The charge of indecent assault came after more than 700 people were contacted by over 80 investigators. They obtained 75 statements from witnesses and victims, which resulted in the charge against Masse.
"This arrest is the culmination of a decade of work by the RCMP investigators, who would not have been able to bring this to a conclusion without the incredible bravery of the victims and witnesses who were willing to relive past trauma and speak about what took place," said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Manaigre.
Police also said the alleged victim showed remarkable resilience during the lengthy investigation.
"The victim in this case has endured a lot throughout the investigative process and has stood firm in speaking out about what happened to her," Manaigre said.
The Fort Alexander Indian Residential School under the care of the Roman Catholic Church operated between 1905 and 1970. It was located on the Sagkeeng First Nation territory and had a reputation for abuse, according to testimony from former students to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission was created to listen to residential school survivors and families from across Canada.
Religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church ran about 60 percent of the 139 Indian Residential Schools, the rest by other churches. The first school opened in the 1820s and the last one closed in the 1990s. Indigenous children were often removed from their families and forced to attend as the Canadian government of the time tried to stamp out Indigenous culture.
About 150,000 student attended and it is thought around 4,500 died from disease and malnutrition and a significant number subjected to physical, mental and sexual abuse./aa
