Court clears way for Sask. man's extradition to Northern Ireland to face decades-old sexual abuse charges

A former Meadow Lake pastor has lost a bid to avoid extradition to the United Kingdom to face historical sexual abuse charges.

A former Meadow Lake pastor has lost a bid to avoid extradition to the United Kingdom to face historical sexual abuse charges.

In a 2017 BBC documentary, Henry Clarke admitted to sexually assaulting teenage boys in care homes in Northern Ireland.

The offences allegedly occurred between 1966 and 1977, according to an Aug. 9 Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decision.

Clarke, who was born in Belfast, previously admitted to abusing the teens in the mid-1980s. However, according to the decision, UK officials did not lay charges because of the amount of time that had elapsed.

Following a 2016 report of an inquiry into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland and the subsequent BBC documentary, prosecutors in the UK reconsidered the 1985 decision and charged Clarke with three counts of indecent assault.

“You can’t walk away from it. It’s always part of you. There’s something always there reminding you of what you’ve done,” Clarke said, speaking to CTV News in 2017 in the wake of the BBC News coverage.

“What I did, I did. I’m very ashamed of that," said Clarke, who served as pastor at Meadow Lake's Alliance Church until 1990.