Father John Duarte and a young boy from the village back in 2001.

WINDSOR, Ont. — Former priest John Duarte begged for forgiveness Thursday as he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually abusing adolescent boys at the mission he founded in Haiti.

A tearful Duarte told Justice Bruce Thomas that he went to Haiti "for all the right reasons, but in the middle of it all, I got lost."

Duarte asked for forgiveness from his family and friends, the people of Haiti and "especially the victims and all those who feel betrayed."

The Windsor missionary, who was arrested in the Dominican Republic and originally charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation in October for sex crimes committed in the impoverished fishing village of Labadie on Haiti's north coast and the country's capital of Port-au-Prince, pleaded guilty to three counts in Superior Court.

Duarte, 44, entered his plea as a result of a deal reached between the Crown and defence lawyer Andrew Bradie.

rest at http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Ontario+priest+gets+months+preying+Haitian+youths/2757938/story.html