Arul Savari, a Roman Catholic priest, is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation of a young person, luring a child and forcible confinement.
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.Arul Savari, a Roman Catholic priest, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and forcible confinement on the first day of his judge-alone trial Tuesday.
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 judge-alone trial before Court of King's Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg. Court heard from a nine-year-old girl today who says she was sexually assaulted by a Manitoba priest last year. The girl testified during the first day of Arul Savari's trial that the priest told her he loved her and kissed her. The alleged assault happened in Little Grand Rapids First Nation in 2023.
Defence lawyer Tom Rees also noted inconsistencies in the account the girl gave in her statement, including about whether Savari's underwear had been removed.Rees instead suggested none of the things the girl alleged actually happened, in a line of questioning the child repeatedly responded to with a soft "yes."
Savari was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Little Grand Rapids. This photo was posted to his Facebook page in December 2018. Savari was also the priest at the nearby Pauingassi First Nation, RCMP said at the time of his arrest. He's originally from India and lived in Winnipeg and had been in Canada for six years at the time of his arrest, and had served in Little Grand Rapids for the same amount of time, Mounties said.
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