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U.S. NEWS Saturday 14 September 2019
Fugitive ex-priest sentenced

to 30 years in sex abuse case

By MORGAN LEE and MARY Several people who were rault said he had not made
HUDETZ not involved in the specific initial eye contact with the
Associated Press charges were allowed Fri- people who testified be-
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A day to recount abuse by cause he is hard of hearing
former Roman Catholic Perrault and describe their and was watching a com-
priest who fled the coun- emotional and mental an- puter to read transcriptions
try decades ago was sen- guish. of what was being said.
tenced Elaine Montoya said her He declined several op-
Friday in New Mexico to 30 first kiss came from Perrault portunities to make other
years in prison after a jury at the start of a two-year remarks.
found him guilty of sexually sexual relationship. Authorities say their de-
abusing an altar boy at a “He had convinced me cades-long pursuit of Per-
veterans’ cemetery and that it was normal ... a gift rault led them to Morocco
military base. from God,” she told the — a country that does not
In ordering the sentence, court. Charles Starzynski have an extradition treaty This 1989 file photo shows Father Arthur Perrault in Albuquerque,
U.S. District Judge Martha said his first sexual expe- with the United States — N.M.
Vazquez said it was the rience was with Perrault and showed how far they Associated Press
worst case of child sex instead of any of the girls were willing to go to seek The archdiocese is in bank- ter that treated priests ac-
abuse she has handled he liked. He called the for- justice. ruptcy proceedings as a cused of abuse. Located in
over the course of 26 years. mer priest a con man con- Perrault was in jail at the result of the abuse scandal. the Jemez Mountains north
At one point, the judge de- cerned only with his image time and Moroccan offi- Perrault first arrived in New of Albuquerque, the facility
manded that 81-year-old of sophistication. cials decided to honor an Mexico in the 1960s after was operated by the Ser-
defendant Arthur Perrault “You’re just a jerk,” he said. arrest warrant presented church officials in Con- vants of the Paraclete reli-
look a woman in the eyes In his only comments, Per- by U.S. authorities. necticut sent him to a cen- gious order.q
as she testified about be-
ing abused by him.
The judge also con-
demned Perrault for only
being concerned about
his sexual needs.
“You chose as a profession
the life of being a priest. It
was supposed to be your
job to help, not destroy,”
she said.
Prosecutors had asked the
judge for special consid-
eration of a life sentence
for Perrault, once a pastor
at an Albuquerque parish
and a chaplain at Kirtland
Air Force Base.
He was convicted in April
of six counts of aggravat-
ed sexual abuse and one
count of abusive sexual
contact with a minor un-
der 12.
“It is a long sentence but
certainly a fitting one given
the length of his conduct
and devastating impact,”
U.S. Attorney John Ander-
son said.
Perrault pleaded not guilty
after he was returned to
the U.S. from Morocco in
2017 and maintained his
innocence at the sentenc-
ing. His defense team plans
to file an appeal.
The abuse counts stemmed
from the treatment of one
boy at Kirtland Air Force
Base in Albuquerque and
at Santa Fe National Cem-
etery. The two sites are
within federal jurisdiction,
which allowed U.S. authori-
ties to file charges with no
statute of limitations.