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	Priest, Diocese Want Lawsuit Dismissed WNYT October 31, 2008 http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S642293.shtml?cat=300 [with video] Watch video QUEENSBURY - A libel case against a local priest who was dismissed from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany was heard Friday in Warren County Court. This was just a day after rape charges against the Rev. Gary Mercure came to light in Berkshire County. The alleged crimes in Berkshire County were discussed in court Friday and the defense was not happy. The attorneys for the Albany Diocese and Mercure refused to speak to reporters as they walked to their cars after court. "I have no comment. I'm not going to try this case before the media," said attorney Mike Costello who is representing the diocese. The defense wants the judge to dismiss the libel suit against the diocese and Mercure. The longtime local priest was suspended from the ministry after several men came forward alleging he'd sexually abused them. The diocese told the media one of the cases was not abuse, but rather a consensual homosexual relationship between Mercure and another man. "But it was sexual abuse and the church knows it," attorney John Aretakis said. Aretakis says his client, John Watkins, turned to Mercure in the early 1990s after being sexually abused by his own father. Aretakis says Mercure took advantage of a vulnerable young man. "He had serious psychological injuries from that and he was incapable of giving consent. Totally and definitely a situation of abuse," Aretakis said. Thursday Mercure was charged with forcibly raping two children in Berkshire County in 1986 and 1989. In those cases, Mercure is accused of bringing the boys over state lines for sex. Aretakis spoke of the new charges in Warren County Court. Defense attorney Tim Alden told the judge that was extraneous, irrelevant information. He added it was obvious Aretakis was playing to people in the courtroom other than the judge. "When things happen in a case, lawyers have an ethical duty to bring it up to the court," Aretakis said. Watkins also sat in court Friday. He says the abuse happened 16 years ago. He says he's had a long time to heal, but the emotions are still very raw and painful. The judge did not make a decision on that motion yet. It could take a month or more. Mercure has a court appearance in Berkshire County on Nov. 18.
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