Canada: Saskatoon Ukrainian Catholic priest convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old parishioner
Request a correction or replyRecord class
Core record
Evidence status
Convicted
Authority role
Priest, Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George, Saskatoon
Organization
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon, Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George
Archive classification
This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.
A child parishioner encountered and assaulted by her priest inside the cathedral, using his clerical presence and access to justify physical contact.
- Pastoral or clerical authority
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2025-10-01 · convicted at trial; sentenced
Saskatchewan Provincial Court. Fr. Janko Kolosnjaji, 72, was found guilty in February 2025 of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl by kissing her without consent in a supply closet at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George, Saskatoon, in 2023. The judge rejected a defence that the kiss was a cultural greeting. He was sentenced in October 2025 to eight months' imprisonment followed by 18 months' probation; the judge considered but declined a 12-18 month term. He retains the right to appeal.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- clerical authority over a parish child, with a claimed 'cultural greeting' defence rejected by the court
- access via a private area of the cathedral (supply closet)
Cited record
Sources
- press news report CBC News, 'Saskatoon priest defibrillated in courtroom after he's found guilty of sexually assaulting teen girl.'
Reports the guilty finding, rejected cultural-greeting defence, and location.
- press news report CBC News, 'Saskatoon priest sentenced to 8 months for 2023 sexual assault.'
Reports the sentence and probation term.
Source provenance
Source access and integrity log
This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.
- Source and tier basis
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/janko-kolosnjaji-ukrainian-catholic-priest-guilty-sexual-assault-1.7470071 Corpus classification: press; evidentiary role: news-report.
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-27 · Retrieval failed
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
- Source and tier basis
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/priest-sexual-assault-9.6934647 Corpus classification: press; evidentiary role: news-report.
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-27 · Retrieval failed
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
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Related record
Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts
- 2018 · Harrisburg, PA, USA PA grand jury: 301 priests, 1,000+ child victims documented ('weaponized' faith)
- 2009 · Dublin, Ireland Ryan Commission: abuse 'endemic' in Catholic-run institutions (state inquiry)
- 2021 · Paris, France CIASE/Sauvé Report: est. 216,000 abused by French clergy since 1950
- 2019 · Vatican City McCarrick: ex-cardinal found guilty by Vatican canonical process, laicized
- 2010 · Oregon City, OR, USA Beagley faith-healing death: parents convicted (criminally negligent homicide)
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- 2001 · London, UK Victoria Climbié: murder convictions; possession belief; Laming Inquiry followed
- 2012 · London, UK Kristy Bamu: kindoki 'deliverance' murder convictions (30/25-yr minimums)