KINGSTON, Ont. - A Roman Catholic priest, charged last year with sex crimes allegedly committed in 2004 against a teenage boy, has been committed to stand trial in Kingston's Superior Court of Justice.

The case of Rene Paul Emile Labelle, 63, of Seeleys Bay was sent to trial Wednesday by Justice J. Peter Coulson following a preliminary hearing. Those proceedings are subject to a publication ban.

Labelle was arrested in February 2012 after voluntarily resigning from St. Barnaby Catholic Church, south of Seeleys Bay at Brewers Mills.

He's charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation and invitation to sexual exploitation.

He'd been active in the Roman Catholic community for 35 years, having been ordained by the Archdiocese of Kingston in 1977.

He also worked as a priest chaplain three days a week at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School, where he provided spiritual counselling, performed mass and heard confession.