GUILTY MA - Father Gary Mercure for child sexual abuse, Pittsfield, 2011

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1315494

The case is going to the jury for deliberations-the defense says the boys, now men, were coached. However, letters were read from additional victims. Mercure was removed from the priesthood in 2008.

Topix. It just goes on since 2008.

Sad. Sad. Sad.





http://www.topix.com/forum/city/glens-falls-ny/TOK8GNGCLSF6QEFSQ

So many of these cases have a common element of... “Father ______ was like part of our family”, “he was always over at our house”, “he loved the children”, etc.. How could this not raise red flags in parents’ minds? Just my opinion, but a priest should NOT be spending lots of time at parishioners’ homes and hanging out with their children, and should NEVER be allowed to take them on camping trips or other places alone. That’s not what a priest should be doing, period.

I knew a good priest, now deceased, who was known for not accepting dinner invitations, etc. which many parishioners offered. Some people thought him overly reserved and even “unfriendly”, but he was the best priest I’ve ever known and he took his vocation seriously. There wasn’t a hint of scandal around him, ever.

Parents should be extremely concerned when their priest exhibits an unusual degree of interest in their children. That’s a red alert, in my mind.

JoeFromLB said:

So many of these cases have a common element of... “Father ______ was like part of our family”, “he was always over at our house”, “he loved the children”, etc.. How could this not raise red flags in parents’ minds? Just my opinion, but a priest should NOT be spending lots of time at parishioners’ homes and hanging out with their children, and should NEVER be allowed to take them on camping trips or other places alone. That’s not what a priest should be doing, period.

I knew a good priest, now deceased, who was known for not accepting dinner invitations, etc. which many parishioners offered. Some people thought him overly reserved and even “unfriendly”, but he was the best priest I’ve ever known and he took his vocation seriously. There wasn’t a hint of scandal around him, ever.

Parents should be extremely concerned when their priest exhibits an unusual degree of interest in their children. That’s a red alert, in my mind.

Click to expand...

Blind Faith?

Joe, it gets me when other Parishoners freak because they give the old "Why are these liars just coming forward now?" Of course everyone is innocent until proven guilty in my mind in this day and age they'd at least understand a bit better. Gone are the olden days when Father Doe headed to a different house each evening for a nice meal or off to the ballpark with the "men" of the family. Could these people at least give a chance to the alleged victims.

It's soooooooo complex. It's our Faith. Our Church. Young people not even sure of what is happening to them save for it's wrong and horrific, but it's done by a Priest. We were raised to respect our Priests. You wouldn't dream of coming out with that to anyone let alone your family.

It's very sad for good Priests like your friend as well as the many, many wonderful Priests that taught our youth. I always give a shoutout to the man good Oblates I know who taught and molded gentleman without hurting them.

Your post reminds me exactly of the case of the teen girl left in her parents basment with her Priest. Her spiritual advisor. The parents taped it. It's like "Who the he*l lets their teen daughter alone in a basement with any older man let alone a Priest at this point?"

My prayers are with the victims in this case as well as the many faithful that trusted Father Friendly come on over and have a beer and some spaghetti.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Priest-cracks-broad-smile-after-rape-conviction-1007091.php

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Gary Mercure, a Catholic priest who was moved among several Capital Region parishes, brought two young altar boys to the Berkshires in the 1980s and raped them, a jury decided Thursday.

Following the verdict, a handcuffed Mercure turned to the courtroom crowd and broke into a broad smile.

He was led away without speaking.

JoeFromLB said:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Priest-cracks-broad-smile-after-rape-conviction-1007091.php



Following the verdict, a handcuffed Mercure turned to the courtroom crowd and broke into a broad smile.

Click to expand...

That's just great. Real great. Can't respond or I'll get a timeout.

Keep smiling creeper. Your tails gonna be locked up and may you receive swift justice by somebody in general. That smile's gonna be turned upside down to a frown.

MASS is not nice to priests who end up in lock up. Somehow they always manage to find a cellmate who was molested by one...I have no idea why.

Believe--Do you happen to know who suggested that the children had been coached? Is there a listing somewhere of the expert witnesses for the defense?

Scroll down to the fourth comment. Some excellent points:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1315494&format=comments#CommentsArea


"The Diocese of Albany stated that Fr. Gary Mercure has been, and continues to, receive his full retirement benefits since he was dismissed from the diocese in 2008...."

I hadn't seen this:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Rape-trial-nears-end-1002019.php

"....[Warren County DA, Kate] Hogan testified that one of the alleged victims' parents contacted her and gave her bloodied underwear they had found hidden inside their son's bedroom wall by the boy when he was 10 or 11.

The now-34-year-old man testified last week that Mercure abused him often and raped him in the back seat of his car when the priest drove him to a lake in Vermont to swim. The man said Mercure told him to tell his parents if they asked that he got hurt falling on the rocks...."

and

"....Hogan said victims reported abuse in Vermont, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Maryland and Virginia.."

more at link


Monster!!

Ex-priest off to prison with a grin

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Ex-priest-off-to-prison-with-a-grin-1016033.php

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Former priest Gary Mercure had nothing to say and only smiled Wednesday after a Berkshire County judge sentenced him to more than two decades behind bars for raping two altar boys in the 1980s.

"You are no more than a common ," Berkshire County Judge John A. Agostini told Mercure, 62, before sentencing him to 20 to 25 years in prison on three counts of forcible rape. Mercure also was sentenced to three to five years, to be served concurrently, on one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14.

...As he did after his conviction, Mercure smiled broadly when he stood up and turned to face the crowd in court as he was led away.

IMO, he's worse than a common . What gall.

What total heartlessness and contempt for the victims.