Winnipeg priest charged with multiple sex assaults dating to the 1980s

A retired Winnipeg priest has been charged in a historic sexual assault investigation.

Roland Lanoie, 70, was arrested earlier this month and charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. 

The police service's child abuse unit launched an investigation in the spring after a man told them he was the victim of a series of sexual assaults between 1982 and 1988.

The man said the assaults occurred when he was a youth and resident student at the St. Boniface Minor Seminary.

Lanoie, who is retired now, was working as an ordained priest, holding various positions within the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, at the time of the offences, police said.

He was arrested Oct. 3 and has since been released from custody. 

Richard Fréchette, spokesperson for the archdiocese, said the man first went to the archdiocese in December 2016 with his complaint.

Officials in the archdiocese did an internal investigation and then Archbishop Albert LeGatt met with Lanoie in January 2017 and accepted his resignation.

The internal investigation continued and in December 2017, after seeking advice from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Legatt permanently barred from the archdiocese offices and from performing any public ministry.

The man then went to the police with his complaint in spring 2018, said Fréchette.

In a news release, LeGatt urged people to "pray for the victim and his family, for all the faithful of the archdiocese, for all of its priests and for the entire church."

"Each time the heinous crime of sexual abuse is reported, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame, and sincere Catholics, Christians and people of good will, experience shock, sorrow, anger and righteous indignation," the news release from the archdiocese states.

"Every single abuse case involving a minor, no matter when it took place, is wrong and we must listen attentively and respond compassionately to those who have been victimized and hurt, particularly if the abuser is connected in any way with our church."

And pray also for Lanoie, LeGatt added.

"May the Spirit guide us all to find the light of truth and to be a church of true compassion and justice."

Lanoie previously worked at the parishes of St. Agathe, St. Norbert, St. Eugene, and as a chaplain at St. Boniface Hospital. 

With files from Gavin Boutroy