WNYT
October 30, 2008
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S639614.shtml?cat=300
PITTSFIELD, Mass. - A priest suspended by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has been indicted on sex charges in Berkshire County. The Rev. Gary Mercure of Troy, N.Y. is now accused of raping two boys there in the 1980s.
Mercure is charged with three counts of rape of a child with force and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
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Two of the rape charges and the assault charge relate to incidents that took place in 1986 in Great Barrington. The district attorney's office says the victim in that case is now 33 years old.
The other rape charge is in connection to a case from 1989 in New Ashford. The victim in that case is now 32 years old, according to the district attorney's office.
Mercure is 60 years old. The diocese suspended him in January after allegations of improper conduct surfaced against him. He was permanently removed from ministry in August.
Four men accused Mercure of sexual abuse. They say it happened while he was serving at parishes in Queensbury, Lake George and Albany.
A man claiming to be abused by Mercure filed a lawsuit against the priest and the diocese in May.
Mark Lyman of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says that in total, his organization has heard 13 people making accusations against Mercure.
Mercure is scheduled to be arraigned in Berkshire Superior Court on Nov. 18.
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