Yellowknife (July 31/02) - The son of Prime Minister Jean Chretien has been ordered to remain in the Northwest Territories until his court appearance Aug. 27.

Michel Chretien, 33, is accused of assaulting an 18-year-old girl at his Yellowknife apartment on July 15. He was arrested and charged with sexual assault Friday evening.

At his arraignment Justice of the peace Eric Kieken ordered Chretien to stay within the NWT. He has also been ordered to abstain from possessing or consuming alcohol, to report to the RCMP every Monday, to not communicate directly or indirectly with the victim or her sister, and to give the RCMP 24 hours notice before changing his address.

The mother of the alleged victim spoke to Yellowknifer last week, claiming Western Arctic Liberal MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew had pressured her not to press charges.

Before the complainant went to police last Wednesday, her mother called Blondin-Andrew's constituency office and left a message to be relayed to the Prime Minister's Office.

Soon after, she received a series of phone calls from Blondin-Andrew, who the mother considers a long-time acquaintance. The mother claims Michel Chretien has stayed with Blondin-Andrew in the past.

"I think she was trying to put pressure on me to not press charges, because she almost did it (convinced her not to)," the mother told Yellowknifer.

"'I just spoke to the prime minister,' she said, and then she told me he is the prime minister, he has all the power and he will fight this case for Michel. Then she told me that 'a lot of dirty things are going to come up about your past and the media will be there.'

"I almost changed my mind (about pressing charges) because of that," said the victim's mother.

Blondin-Andrew is commenting only through her Ottawa lawyer on the allegations. Lawyer Pat Santini confirmed the women knew each other and had spoken, but denied the content of the conversations as portrayed by the victim's mother.

Santini said he didn't have all the details concerning the conversations, but he "knew enough" to say "the allegation that (the mother of the victim) was pressured is completely without foundation." Santini said he was retained late last Thursday.

The victim's mother said she is not surprised Blondin-Andrew is denying the content of conversations that occurred between the two of them last Wednesday.

"I knew she was going to say something like that.

"When she told me that 'the prime minister told me to tell you he is the prime minister and he has the pull and the money and he will defend his son and I'm going to stand with him 100 per cent' - that's when I felt threatened."

"I said 'Gee, I shouldn't be talking to you,' and she said, 'No, no, no, no. I want you to trust me. I am your MP,' " said the mother.

The victim's mother said she is relieved Chretien has been charged with sexually assaulting her daughter, but said that "it would be better if he was out of town."

The the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement late Friday evening after Michel's arrest. Chretien's statement expressed sadness and asked for privacy. The statement said the incident in Yellowknife may be connected to the younger Chretien's substance abuse problems.

"We have been heartened by the progress (Michel) had been making," the statement read, "and are deeply discouraged by his apparent relapse."

- with files from Jorge Barrera