Canadian Press

Former justice of the peace faces eight new sex charges

Paul Leroux, who reserved his plea, now faces a total of 40 charges related to incidents at a dormitory he supervised.

The eight new charges arose from interviews with hundreds of former residents of Grollier Hall, which housed students aged 5 - 19 and was supervised, until the mid 1980's, by lay employees of the Roman Catholic Church.

Students stayed at the hostel while attending school in Inuvik, more than 1,000 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife.

Investigators still have several dozen interviews to go, said RCMP Sergeant Tom Steggles. There are now 19 former residents claiming to be victims.

Leroux, 57, will be held in custody until his Aug. 19 court appearance before the Territorial Supreme Court in Yellowknife.

Leroux now faces 16 counts of gross indecency, 19 counts of indecent assault and five counts of buggery. In addition to the Inuvik charges, he faces child pornography charges related to an April 2 search of his Vancouver apartment by RCMP investigating the Inuvik case.