Canadian priest who served in Calgary convicted in sexual assault against minors

A former Calgary priest has been convicted by a French court of sexually assaulting four minors, a statement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary said.

Rev. Denis Tass, who periodically served in Clear Water Academy and at the summer camps of Regnum Christi in Calgary, was convicted by the Criminal Court of Bordeaux, France, in the 2019 sexual assault of four teenage girls in France and Italy, a statement from the Legionaries of Christ, a Roman Catholic congregation of priests, said.

The group said the assaults happened during pastoral group activities.

The Legionaries of Christ said in three of the cases Tass placed his hand on the chests of the girls, and in the fourth case he placed his hand on her buttocks.

The group said on Oct. 8 Tass was sentenced to a 10-month suspended prison sentence, a 10-year ban from working with minors, and an order that he must register his home address with French authorities for the rest of his life.

Tass had served in Cornwall, Ont., Hamilton, Ont., and Calgary from 2010 to 2013, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary said.

Tass is a Canadian born in 1977 in Cornwall. Prior to moving to France in 2015, he also worked in Mexico and the United States.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary is encouraging anyone with information regarding sexual misconduct or abuse by Tass to report the incidents to the Calgary Police Service, 0abuse.org, or to the diocese.