The Crown rested its case Thursday in the chilling trial of a former priest accused of 80 charges of sexual assault on Inuit children.
A total of 42 alleged victims – many choking with sobs – delivered heart-wrenching testimonies throughout the trial.
Most of the alleged victims were from the small Inuit town of Igloolik where Eric Dejaegar was stationed between 1978 and 1982 while he worked for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
One woman told how, at the age of 12, she was tied to a bed and sodomized. Other witnesses said that Dejaeger had forced them to watch acts of bestiality.
Yet another said that she tried to clean her wounds after being raped by the priest but he simply put her on a couch covered in plastic garbage bags to prevent staining.
Many of the witnesses settled in the witness box as far as possible Dejaeger, who sat only a few meters away.
Others received permission from Judge Robert Kilpatrick to look the accused in the face during their testimony, an unusual practice in court.
