“71-Year-Old Priest Sentenced for Kissing 13-Year-Old”

A 71-year-old priest from Saskatoon has been sentenced to eight months in prison and 18 months of probation for kissing a 13-year-old girl in a storage room. The incident occurred two years ago at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood. The priest, Janko Kolosnjaji, was convicted in February and appeared in provincial court on Thursday. The prosecutor, Sheryl Fillo, highlighted the impact on the victim and her family, emphasizing that the girl, who was a refugee from Ukraine, felt vulnerable and that it was her first kiss. During the court proceedings, the teenager shared a victim impact statement expressing her confusion, pain, and feelings of a hostile and dangerous world following the incident. The victim’s mother described the assault as a betrayal of trust and dignity by a person in a position of authority.