Calgary Catholic priest charged with sexual assault

A Catholic priest in Calgary has been charged with sexual assault.

Calgary police say they received a report in October that sexual assaults had taken place in September and October 2012.

The victim, a woman, said she had been sexually touched without consent on more than one occasion by a priest at St. Mark Roman Catholic Church on Madigan Drive N.E.

Malcom Joe D'Souza, 62, was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault on Jan. 11, according to police.

Other allegations

The charge comes after D'Souza was put on leave in October, after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary said it had received allegations of sexual misconduct against the priest.

Those alleged incidents involved two minors and several adults and are alleged to have happened during the priest's tenure at St. Mark.

D'Souza had most recently been assigned to St. Bernard's and Our Lady of the Assumption parishes.

No time limit on reporting assaults

"The Calgary Police Service encourages anyone who has been sexually assaulted to report it, regardless of when the assault occurred," reads a news release on the incident.

"There is no time limit on how long a victim has to report a sexual assault in Canada, and police can still investigate an incident decades after it occurred."

D'Souza will next be in court on Feb. 21.