PRIEST IN INNU COMMUNITY FACES SEX ABUSE CHARGES
Canadian Press Sept. 14, 1996
SHESHATSHIU, NFLD.

Innu authorities say the arrest of this community's new priest on sexual
abuse charges may be just the tip of the iceberg. And they have issued a
blanket invitation to all victims of sexual abuse in this devoutly
Catholic community to set aside their fears and tell their stories at a
weekend meeting. "We hope the people will have enough confidence to make a
joint complaint about sexual abuse by priests," Innu Nation president
Peter Penashue said Friday. The move to hold the meeting - the time and
location of which is being kept secret to preserve the privacy of the
victims - came after the RCMP charged Sheshatshiu's new priest Tuesday
with sexually touching a young person. Although only one priest has ever
been convicted on sexual charges in Labrador, Penashue said such abuse has
been widespread and longlasting. "The whole thing probably started when
the first priest showed up at our doorstep a couple of hundred years ago."