Disgraced priest Yvon Arsenault will plead not guilty to new sex charge

Disgraced catholic priest Yvon Arsenault will pleading not guilty to a new charge of indecent assault.

Arsenault is already serving four years behind bars. He was sentenced in February after he pleaded guilty to molesting nine young boys in the seventies, when he was priest around Shediac and Collette.

The boys were all between nine and 17 years-old.

• Former priest Yvon Arsenault handed 4-year sentence for 9 sex crimes ​
• Former priest Yvon Arsenault admits 9 sex crimes with minors

Arsenault was almost unrecognizable as he appeared in Moncton provincial court Thursday to elect a mode of trial in front of judge Troy Sweet.

He looked around the courtroom appearing confused after being brought in to the prisoner's box by a sheriff.

He was wearing a blue T-shirt, had grown a beard and appeared heavier since going to prison. 

Arsenault chose to be tried by judge and jury on the new charge. The case will go to the Court of Queen's Bench, where his lawyer Gilles Lemieux said Arsenault will officially enter the plea.

A date for a preliminary hearing will be set next week.

In May, a 10th alleged victim came forward with an allegation against the 75-year-old former priest.

The man alleged that the abuse happened between 1970 and 1973 in Shediac. He cannot be identified because of a publication ban protecting his identity.

Arsenault was removed from his church functions by the archdiocese in 2012, when the first allegations came out.

In addition to the criminal charges, about a dozen civil lawsuits are pending against him related to alleged sex crimes.