Catholic Priest Gets Five Years On Child Sex Charges

December 5, 2023 Crime, Religion

A Roman Catholic priest on P.E.I. has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a teenage boy in the 1990s. Maurice Joseph Praught, 70, entered the plea in a Charlottetown courtroom Tuesday morning. He was arrested in 2022 following a joint investigation by Summerside police and the RCMP after the Diocese of Charlottetown reported the allegations.

A few hours after the sentencing, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown issued a statement about the case. “I sincerely apologize to the victim and his family for the abuse, pain and harm that was perpetrated by Father Praught, and I offer my most earnest apology for the failures of the Church,” the statement quoted Bishop Joseph Dabrowski as saying. The statement noted that the diocese has had a sexual abuse response policy in place since 1992.

Read the full article. News reports today are characterizing Praught as a “retired priest,” but in fact he was suspended by the archdiocese upon his November 2022 arrest.

once again, not a trans person: https://t.co/gGbJBQmQsK

— savannah (@savs__says) December 5, 2023