ex-priest jailed

Toronto.– Former Windsor priest John Duarte will serve up to eight months in prison after he was sentenced to 18 months for sexually abusing adolescent boys at the Haiti mission he founded.

A tearful Duarte told Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas that he went to Haiti "for all the right reasons but, in the middle of it all, I got lost." Duarte asked for forgiveness Thursday, from his family and friends, the people of Haiti and "especially the victims and all those who feel betrayed."

The 44-year-old missionary, who was arrested in the Dominican Republic and originally charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation in October for sex crimes committed in the impoverished fishing village of Labadie on Haiti's north coast and the country's capital of Port-au-Prince, pleaded guilty to three counts.

Duarte entered his plea as a result of a deal between the Crown and defence lawyer Andrew Bradie. Duarte, who has spent five months in custody, will be given credit on a two for one basis for each day spent in pretrial custody. He will be released in eight months or less.


18 mois?