Priest pleads guilty to western Newfoundland sex charges

A Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty to 35 sex-related charges in Corner Brook Supreme Court on Monday.

George Ansel Smith, 74, had faced more than 60 charges, but the rest were withdrawn in exchange for the pleas. The charges included indecent assault, unlawful assault and gross indecency.

Police say the offences took place in six different communities on the west coast of Newfoundland between the 1960s and 1980s.

Smith also faces eight sex-related charges in a separate case, which are scheduled to be addressed in court on October 1.

He retired from the priesthood when he left the province in 1994.

Smith had taken up temporary duties as a priest at the rural parish of St. Malachy's Church in Kinkora, P.E.I. in 2010 when he was removed from his post following a complaint about an incident alleged to have occurred when he worked in western Newfoundland.

A sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 22.