Warning: Some readers may find this story distressing
An ex-Anglican priest has been found guilty of six criminal charges for molesting two Yukon First Nation boys in the ’80s.
The verdict came Wednesday after a two-day trial in Whitehorse described by the judge as “unusual” on several fronts, including the forgiveness and “decent humanity” in the victims’ testimony and the defence choosing not to do any cross-examination.
David Norton, who’s currently imprisoned in Ontario for sexually abusing children there, was charged last year with two counts each of historic sexual assault, sexual assault and sexual interference in the Yukon cases.
The abuse occurred between 1983 and 1987, when, according to court documents, Norton was the “Indian Ministries Coordinator” for the Anglican Church’s Yukon diocese. He was also in charge of St. Simon’s Church in Whitehorse, commonly referred to as the Old Log Church, and St. Saviour’s Church in Carcross, Yukon.
While Norton, 77, pleaded not guilty to all counts, he admitted through his lawyer on Wednesday that convictions were “appropriate” based on the evidence — namely, the testimony of the two victims, the Crown’s only witnesses.
The defence did not call any evidence.
‘Nighttime was when those sacrifices came
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