By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
(Last updated on Jan. 27)
A New Brunswick resident who was a priest in Yarmouth County decades ago has been charged with 40 sexual offences dating back to the early 1970s and into the mid-1980s.
The Yarmouth rural detachment of the RCMP has charged 81-year-old Albert LeBlanc with sexual offences relating to three people. The offences are alleged to have occurred from 1970 to 1985 while LeBlanc resided in Yarmouth County.
LeBlanc lives in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, which is where he was arrested Jan. 6. None of the allegations have been proven in court. LeBlanc is scheduled to appear in Yarmouth provincial court on March 15. By that time he will have turned 82.
The RCMP say the complainants were between the ages of seven and 11 when the offences are alleged to have occurred. A publication ban protects their identity. All of the complainants are males.
While this matter is before the court, LeBlanc is ordered by the court not to have any contact with children under the age of 16.
The 40 charges include 11 charges of indecent assault and 29 charges of gross indecency. While the specifics of all of charges are not outlined in court documents, some of the offences are described and refer to acts of touching and oral sex.
Police say they cannot comment on whether LeBlanc was a Roman Catholic priest at the time any of these offences took place, saying that the Privacy Act prohibits the RCMP from disclosing his employment history. Court documents show that in the case of one of the complainants, the offences are alleged to have taken place from 1970 to 1975. But for the other two complainants the allegations are for 1979 to 1985 and 1980 to 1985.
LeBlanc resigned from the priesthood in 1973.
The Archdiocese of Halifax says it was LeBlanc’s choice to leave the priesthood.
“The file indicates that this was his choice. In the letter that he wrote . . . he said he was finding good life as a layperson and hoped to live that way. There is no indication he was asked to leave,” says Marilyn Sweet, a spokesperson for the archdiocese.
“Men leaving the priesthood was a common thing at the time,” she adds. “Many, many priests left at that time, it was a time following changes in the church.”
After leaving the priesthood LeBlanc worked as a caseworker with Family and Children's Services for about a year in Yarmouth. In 1975 he became a probation officer here. He also coached minor hockey and was described as an avid hockey player and fan.
LeBlanc was well-known and well liked. The numerous allegations of sexual abuse have shocked many.
While in Yarmouth LeBlanc was actively involved in the formation of the Notre Dame Youth Centre and the Boys Club of Yarmouth. While he was a priest, including his time as the parish priest at the Notre Dame de Fatima parish in the town’s south end, LeBlanc organized several trips to Boston Bruins hockey games involving large groups of young boys, along with chaperones, from this area.
Sometimes the trips involved altar boys, sometimes local residents of Yarmouth and at least once, members of a peewee hockey team he coached. For many of these boys these trips were a thrill as they got to see their first NHL hockey game and mingle with NHL hockey stars.
The trips would include one or two NHL hockey games in Boston and sometimes a Celtics basketball game. Often there were newspaper articles written about the trips. The articles outlined how LeBlanc’s connections with Boston Gardens’ officials granted the boys and their chaperones access to the dressing rooms for autographs and to meet NHL players. One article describes one of these trips as a father-son affair.
Photos and news articles about the trips to Boston had been posted on the Internet for years. The site was taken down after news of the charges was made public.
None of the charges before the court involve to the trips to Boston.
The RCMP began its investigation last April after receiving a complaint of alleged sexual assault.
“The first complainant came on April 19, 2010, to our detachment,” says Sergeant Michel Lacroix. “Subsequent to that there were two more people.”
The RCMP say given the fact that the allegations date back decades, this was a lengthy and complex investigation. Aside from interviewing the complainants, they also had to locate and interview potential witnesses.
The police also consulted with the Crown before laying the charges.
“On these types of offences there is no statute of limitation,” Sgt. Lacroix says.
The RCMP say their investigation involving these three complainants is concluded. Whether or not more complainants may come forward is something the RCMP cannot speculate on.
“If the RCMP receive any more complaints of an alleged criminal act there will be a thorough investigation carried out,” says Sgt. Lacroix.
