Fugitive priest abuses altar boy faces trial

Associated Press (ap.org); Seth Auberon, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The sun sets on a sign in front of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe offices in Albuquerque, N.M. A priest who fled the USA decades ago faces a federal trial on charges that he sexually abused a New Mexico boy in the early 1990s at an Air Force base and veterans' cemetery. Father Arthur Perrault, a one-time pastor, has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse and more.

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Fugitive priest accused of abusing boy faces trial

Molesting is like a sacrament, right? - Yes.

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - A Catholic priest who was captured in Morocco after fleeing the U.S. decades ago is facing a federal trial on charges that he sexually abused a New Mexico boy in the early 1990s at an Air Force base and veterans' cemetery.

The trial of 80-year-old Father Arthur Perrault is set to begin Monday in Santa Fe with jury selection. Prosecutors are expected to call dozens of witnesses, including a former deacon, parents, and former military members who knew Perrault in the early 1990s.

Federal authorities have said in court documents that Perrault may have had as many as eight other victims. But the charges against him only involve an 11-year-old altar boy. The church sent Perrault to New Mexico in the 1960s for treatment at a center for pedophile priests. He was arrested in 2017 in Tangier, where authorities say he had been teaching at an English-language school for children.

Perrault's case marks a rare federal criminal prosecution of a former Catholic priest in the state where dozens of clergy abuse victims have won more than $50 million in settlements from the Santa Fe Archdiocese, which has filed for bankruptcy protection as a result of the lawsuits. More