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IQALUIT
A former Iglulik Catholic priest facing 76 charges pleaded not guilty to all of them on Oct. 1.

Eric Dejaeger, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, is scheduled to go to trial in October 2013. - NNSL file photo

Eric Dejaeger is scheduled to go to trial next year.

His charges include 68 that are sex-related, one count each of uttering threats and unlawful confinement as well as three counts each of assault and use of violence to prevent reporting of suspicious activity.

The 65-year-old accused is also facing one count of indecent assault and gross indecency in Alberta.

Defence lawyer Malcolm Kempt told the Nunavut Court of Justice on Oct. 1 the accused is pleading not guilty to all charges. Dejaeger was present in court for the proceedings.

Kempt reiterated to the court that the accused is electing a judge-alone trial and is waiving his right to a preliminary hearing.

The court has scheduled the case to be tried in Iqaluit starting Oct. 28, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. Ten weeks have been set aside.

Justice Robert Kilpatrick said he is not sure how the court will accommodate a trial of this size.

Dejaeger was deported to Canada from Belgium in January 2011. He was arrested upon his arrival in Canada on a 2011 warrant for three charges of buggery and indecent assault for incidents alleged to have occurred between 1978 and 1982 in Iglulik.

In 1990, Dejaeger had been convicted on eight counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault in Baker Lake and was sentenced to five years in prison.

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