Priest convicted of sexual assault seeks bail

A priest convicted of sexual assault is seeking bail following his October arrest on eightnew charges involving the alleged sexualabuse of four men.

Ron Lgerhadjust been granted day parole when Winnipeg police took him into custody Oct. 19.

Lger was sentenced to two years in jail in February 2016 for sexually assaulting three men who were youths at the time the abuse began.

The new charges were laid after four more men came forward to police with similar allegations that they were abused after meeting the priest at a youth centre. Lger ran a number of teen drop-in centres from the 1970s to the mid-90s, including Teen Stop Jeunesse and Ron's Drop-in Centre.

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Lger, 78, was escorted into court, hiswhite hair slightly disheveled, and his grey sweat suit hung loosely from his frail form. At the time, he shook his head as he heard some of the Crown's evidence against him.

Crown prosecutor KatieDojack made a lengthy submission arguing Lger should remain in custody. The details of the submission are protected by a publication ban. Dojack referenced a Supreme Court decision in Ontariowhich restored a pretrial detention order for the accused in a violent assault case.

Saul Simmonds, who represents Lger, argued his client should be granted bail because he would still be on day parole and subject to a number of restrictions. Among other arguments, Simmonds also submitted that Lger's age should be taken into account.

Judge Cynthia Devinereserved her decision. She told the court she would make a rulingin the next two weeks.