Nunavut RCMP confirm arrest warrant for priest

Nunavut RCMP have confirmed that there's a longstanding Canada-wide warrant for the arrest of a priest wanted in relation to sex crimes allegedly committed in the eastern Arctic between 1968 and 1970

Father Johannes Rivoire is currently living in France. The warrant was issued in 1998. The priest is now in his 80s.

RCMP say if he returns to Canada he will be arrested and brought before the courts.

Rivoire faces three charges: one for indecent assault involving three complainants in Repulse Bay, and two counts of sexual intercourse involving females under 14 years of age in Rankin Inlet and Repulse Bay.

According to Sylvia MacEachern, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse in Ottawa, Rivoire appears to have arrived in the North in the early 1960s. He served in Repulse Bay, Igloolik and Chesterfield Inlet and would sometimes fill in for priests in other communities, including Eric Dejaeger in Igloolik.

Dejaeger is currently on trial in Iqaluit for dozens of sex-related charges in that community.

Rivoire is not on Interpol's most wanted list.