By Jaryn Vecchio
Father Turcotte front entrance // Jaryn Vecchio - Harvard Broadcasting
Sexual assault allegations are being made against a former local Priest.
Allan Adam, Chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, made the claim about Father J.A. Turcotte while speaking to a large crowd following the ‘Bring Our Children Home Healing Rally’ held on Canada Day.
These allegations, which included putting his hand down children’s pants, took place while he was at the Holy Angels Residential School in Fort Chipewyan.
Turcotte spent 40 years working in the region.
According to the Fort McMurray Today, an elder, who wished to remain unnamed, corroborated the claims.
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During a Thursday interview, a Fort Chipewyan man who attended the school accused Turcotte of trying to put his hands into his pants. The man, who asked not to be named, said he was seven at the time.
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“I could hear him do things to the others,” the man said. “He didn’t get what he wanted from me but I watched out for him all the time.”
Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said the older students used to call Turcotte “Father Jerk-off.” He was not at the school at the same time as Turcotte, but said stories were common among the older children, including siblings, who knew him.
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