Court hears from 9-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by Manitoba priest last year

Posted on November 12, 2024 by Peggy

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A now nine-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by a priest last year in Little Grand Rapids First Nation told court on Tuesday she remembers feeling scared as the priest allegedly walked her to his bedroom inside the church that day.

The girl, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, said that Arul Savari then took his clothes off. She said Savari, who she called “Father Arul,” also told her he loved her and later kissed her while she was still at the church.

Savari, who sat behind a screen that prevented the girl from seeing him as she testified, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and forcible confinement on the first day of his trial before Court of King’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg.

Court heard both direct testimony from the girl, who clutched a stuffed animal as she spoke from the witness box, and a video recording of the statement she gave after the alleged assault in 2023.

“When I was at the church, I guess, that priest — you know that priest who works at the church?” she said to the person taking her statement in the video played in court.

“Father Arul. He did something gross to me.”

The girl said as she left the church that day, Savari told her not to tell her mom what happened. But she did anyway, which led to police being contacted about the incident in her home community, a remote First Nation about 265 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Savari’s lawyers are expected to cross-examine the girl Tuesday afternoon.

For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.