By Bob Gardinier
Albany Times Union
January 31, 2011
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Snow-delays-testimony-at-trial-of-priest-accused-987421.php
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| Ex-priest Gary Mercure in 2008 when he was indicted in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on charges that he raped a boy in the Great Barrington area in the fall of 1986 and another boy in New Ashford in February 1989. Mercure once served in two Troy Parishes. (Courtesy of NewsChannel 13) |
Opening arguments in the trial of a former Roman Catholic priest charged with raping two boys will be postponed until Thursday because of the looming snowstorm.
Ten jurors were selected Monday for Gary Mercure's trial in Berkshire County Court, officials said. Jury selection will continue Tuesday.
But even if a complete panel is selected Tuesday, officials said, opening arguments won't be held until after Wednesday, when the storm is expected to end.
Mercure, 62, faces three counts of rape of a child with force and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, according to the office of District Attorney David F. Capeless.
Mercure, who served in two Troy parishes, was indicted in October 2008 on charges that he raped a boy in the Great Barrington, Mass., area in the fall of 1986 and another boy in New Ashford, Mass., in February 1989.
The alleged victims, who were from New York parishes and traveled to Massachusetts with Mercure, are now 34 and 35 years old, officials said.
The Albany diocese received allegations of sexual abuse against Mercure in January 2008, said Ken Goldfarb, spokesman for the diocese. From January until August 2008, Mercure was on administrative leave and was prohibited from all active ministry. He had been serving at the Sacred Heart and St. William parishes in Troy.
Following the diocese's investigation, Mercure was permanently removed from ministry in August 2008, Goldfarb said.
In New York state, Mercure was accused of but never charged with sexually assaulting several boys in Albany and Warren counties. The diocese investigated an incident relating to "misconduct with a minor" involving Mercure while he was at St. Teresa of Avila parish in Albany in the mid-1980s, authorities have said.
The statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges against Mercure in New York had already expired by the time the accusations were made. Massachusetts has a longer statute of limitations for such charges.
Mercure was ordained in 1975 and served as a priest at St. Mary's in Clinton Heights, St. Mary's Parish in Glens Falls, Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish in Queensbury, St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Albany and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Latham.
Reach Bob Gardinier at 454-5696 or bgardinier@timesunion.com
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