Police expect more alleged victims in priest’s assault case
Police believe there may be more alleged victims of Brian Boucher, a Montreal priest who is facing several charges related to sexual offences against minors allegedly committed between 1994 and 2011.
Boucher was charged Thursday with sexual assault, sexual touching, sexual interference and breaking and entering.
He was first arrested Jan. 12, but later released under strict conditions. However, he was arrested again on Wednesday after two more complaints surfaced.
Police said Boucher, 56, was still working as a priest when he was arrested this week, but the Archdiocese of Montreal released a statement Thursday that suggests otherwise.
“The Archdiocese would like to stress that as soon as its officials received testimony alleging misconduct by Fr. Boucher, every effort was made to shed light on these allegations,” the statement said.
“Diocesan authorities removed him from all Church ministry, launched an internal investigation, guided the alleged victims through the process, and collaborated with the police by sharing the results of its investigation.”
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese could not give an exact timeline as to when Boucher had been removed from “all Church ministry,” or when it launched its own investigation of Boucher, who frequently moved from church to church and once served as chaplain at McGill University.
Police said Boucher had been under investigation since August of 2015.
Boucher had been the Pastor at Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish in Town of Mount Royal in April of 2014, according to documents, but was appointed to theological studies at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., in August of that same year.
Carlo Tarini, director of communications for Committee for Victims of Priests (Comité des victimes de prêtres), a victims support group, said church officials must have been aware of a problem years ago.
“I can’t speak with certainty, but I can certainly say that it’s utterly unusual for a priest to be moved around so much,” Tarini said. “Normally, it’s on a six- or sevenyear basis that they’re moved around. When this happens, it doesn’t pass the smell test.”
But the Archdiocese of Montreal noted that it fully co-operated with authorities. “The process leading to (Boucher’s) indictment came as a result of close collaboration between diocesan authorities and the (Montreal police),” the statement said.
Tarini believes more people will come forward to police now that Boucher is facing criminal charges.
“If in fact he’s a pedophile and the allegations are proven, normally it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
“From past experience, when a story like this rears its head, sometimes as many as a dozen new people will show up for every one already involved.”
Tarini said the police investigation will hopefully reveal more about Boucher’s alleged crimes.