Kelly Geraldine Malone, Canadian Press Published Friday, June 17, 2022, 3:14 PM EDT Last Updated on Friday, June 17, 2022, 5:46 PM EDT
WINNIPEG – A 92-year-old retired priest has been indicted after a decade-long investigation at the Fort Alexander Residential School in Manitoba.
Arthur Mas faces charges of indecent assault on a 10-year-old girl who was a student at the school, the RCMP reported on Friday. The alleged crime was committed between 1968 and 1970, when Mas was a school employee.
The school was opened in 1905 in the community of Fort Alexander, which later became the first Sagkeeng nation. It was closed in 1970.
Chief Derrick Henderson said the arrest opened old wounds.
“People have been talking about this for many years. Does society believe them? ”Henderson said.
“It’s always the hardest part.”
Allegations of sexual abuse at a boarding school were reported to the RCMP in 2010.
Officers interacted with more than 700 people in North America during the investigation and received 75 testimonies from victims and witnesses. More than 80 investigators took part.
Police said the investigation meant reviewing the school’s archives, including lists of students and staff.
RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre said the emotional trauma experienced by the victims could continue for many years to come. He is still present while police investigate, he said.
Manaiger said the investigation had identified the possibility of other victims and other perpetrators at the boarding school. But over time, some people died, there was not enough evidence or the victims did not want to press charges, he said.
“It’s a traumatic experience. “Some of them don’t want to go through it again,” he said. “We understand.”
Mas was arrested at his home in Winnipeg. He is due to appear in court on Monday.
The Southern Chiefs’ Organization has called on law enforcement to investigate and re-investigate all claims around housing schools.
Massa was part of a Catholic religious order called the Missionary Regions of the Immaculate Conception.
Rev. Ken Thorson of OMI Lacombe Canada said the Oblates condemned all cases of sexual violence and “deeply regrets” all survivors who were injured.
Thorson said in an email that the order is committed to participating in the investigation and will cooperate fully in the proceedings.
Information gathered by the Societe historique de Saint-Boniface, an archive in Manitoba, says that Mas was born in Ferland, Sask, in 1929. His first job was at the Fort Francis Residential School in northern Ontario, where he remained until 1957. He later returned to the school in 1970 and observed the student residence until it closed four years later.
Mas worked at a number of other schools during his time away from Fort Francis.
Derek Nepinac, the leader of the first nation of Minnesia, Anishinabe, said that Mas also spent time at the Pine Creek Residential School northwest of Winnipeg and was “famous” there.
The Fort Alexander School also had a reputation for severe violence.
The survivors told the Commission about the truth and reconciliation of hunger, sexual violence and harsh discipline. Children from nearly two dozen First Nations attended school for about 10 months of the year.
Sagkeeng First Nation recently discovered 190 anomalies while searching for unmarked graves near the school using ground penetration radar.
Initial data showed that the irregularities met some of the criteria for graves, but community leaders said more information was needed.
Henderson said he was surprised to learn of the arrest Thursday. He recalled the retired priest attending hockey games and other public events.
He said that while experiencing the pain was difficult, it was important for the truth to come out.
“This is another step in this story, another chapter in that story of school violence.
The Indian Residential Schools Health Support Program has a hotline to help survivors of residential schools and their relatives who have suffered trauma from recalling past violence. The number is 1-866-925-4419.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 17, 2022.
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