9-25-18 Fugitive Priest Brought Back to the US for Sex Abuse Trial

Fugitive Priest Brought Back to United States for Sex Abuse Trial


News: US News
by David Nussman  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  September 25, 2018   

Father Arthur Perrault fled the country in 1992 amid child sex abuse allegations

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today!

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ChurchMilitant.com) - An American priest who fled the country decades ago amid allegations of child sexual abuse is now back in the United States to face trial.
Father Arthur Perrault disappeared suddenly in 1992, right before a lawsuit was filed against the Santa Fe archdiocese alleging that Perrault had abused seven minors at St. Bernadette parish in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 
After decades in hiding and a year in police custody abroad, Perrault was extradited from Morocco to a U.S. district court in Albuquerque. He faces seven charges related to sexually abusing an underage boy. The alleged incidents of abuse occurred in 1991 and 1992 at Santa Fe National Cemetery and Kirtland Air Force Base. The fact that they took place on federal properties gave the U.S. Attorney's Office jurisdiction to prosecute Perrault, who served as a chaplain for the Air Force Reserve.
Authorities say that when Fr. Perrault disappeared in 1992, he first went to Canada, then fled overseas to Morocco. Perrault worked with children at a school in Morocco, teaching English for some 20 years. That came to an end a year ago, when a U.S. federal grand jury indictment led to Perrault getting fired and taken into Moroccan police custody.
In his first court appearance on Sept. 21, Perrault pleaded not guilty. More than a dozen alleged victims watched as Perrault entered the courtroom walking with a cane. On Sept. 25, a federal judge found him to be a flight risk and ordered him to be held in police custody pending a trial. 

In 1971, Perrault wrote an apology letter to the parents of one of his victims. In the letter, he attributed his behavior to cancer, but authorities say Perrault had never been diagnosed with cancer.
Originally from Connecticut, Fr. Perrault was accused of abusing boys in the archdiocese of Hartford within just 18 months of his ordination. Perrault came in January 1966 to an addiction treatment center for priests and religious in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.
While at that treatment center, Perrault was assigned to chairing the theology department at St. Pius X High School in Albuquerque — the Santa Fe archdiocese's flagship school. The school and the archdiocese received allegations in 1970 that Fr. Perrault had sexually abused a male student. Documents detailing how the school and the archdiocese handled the allegations were kept secret until October 2017. The documents show that then-Abp. James Peter Davis insisted on keeping everything private. He finally removed Fr. Perrault from the school later that year after the victim's father threatened a lawsuit.
In 1982, Fr. Perrault was assigned to assist during weekends at St. Bernadette parish in Albuquerque. He became the pastor there in 1985 and remained in that post until he fled the country in 1992.
In a statement on Sept. 21, the archdiocese of Santa Fe said in part: 
Over the past year, the archdiocese has fully cooperated with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI during the federal grand jury investigation which ultimately led to these criminal indictments against Perrault. The archdiocese was informed after Perrault's arrest was initiated.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe began its own canonical process of investigating these allegations in 1992. The accusations against Perrault were reported immediately to the Albuquerque civil authorities.
The archdiocese has cooperated fully with all law enforcement agencies investigating the allegations and will continue to support the judicial process as it runs its course. We ask all to cooperate and respect the legal proceedings and for prayers for all victims and those affected by these very serious charges.
The archdiocese went on to encourage victims and witnesses of clerical sex abuse to contact law enforcement "immediately," and to also reach out to the archdiocese's victim assistance and Safe Environment coordinator.
In sum, Fr. Perrault was accused of making advances on minors while he was in Connecticut and of abusing minors in New Mexico in his positions at St. Pius X High School and St. Bernadette parish, as well as on federal property while he was a military chaplain.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t...
Read more

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th...
Read more