Diocese Admits It Received Complaint, by Bob Gardinier, Albany Times Union, February 15, 2011

Diocese Admits It Received Complaint

By Bob Gardinier
Albany Times Union
February 15, 2011

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Diocese-admits-it-received-complaint-1013520.php

Mike Flynn, who testified last week in Pittsfield, Mass., that he is a victim of Gary Mercure, speaks about the Mercure verdict and the Albany Diocese in front of The Chancery on North Main St. in Albany, NY on February 14, 2011.

Mark Lyman of SNAP speaks about the Mercure verdict and the Albany Diocese in front of The Chancery on North Main St. in Albany, NY on February 14, 2011. Mike Flynn, who testified last week in Pittsfield, Mass., that he is a victim of Gary Mercure, listens in the background.

Rev. Robert Hoatson speaks about the Mercure verdict and the Albany Diocese in front of The Chancery on North Main St. in Albany, NY on February 14, 2011. Mike Flynn, who testified last week in Pittsfield, Mass., that he is a victim of Gary Mercure, listens in the background.

ALBANY -- The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese admitted Monday it received a complaint in 2000 about priest Gary Mercure's abuse of boys but dropped the matter because the accusers did not follow up on their allegation.

A letter surfaced Monday written in 2008 by the sister of two men who testified in Berskhire County court last week about being raped by Mercure more than 20 years ago when they were altar boys at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Queensbury.

The letter states that the mother of the two altar boys traveled to the Pastoral Center in Albany in 2000 and told an official in the diocese that Mercure abused her sons.

Diocesan officials have said they first learned of Mercure's abuse of young boys in 2008.

After a five-day trial and shocking testimony from five former altar boys, Mercure, 62, was found guilty Thursday of raping two altar boys during trips to Massachusetts in the 1980s. He will be sentenced Wednesday and faces 25 years to life in prison.

In response to questions about the contents of that letter, the diocese issued a statement saying it in fact investigated a third-party report in 2000 of possible misconduct by Mercure.

"When the diocese sought additional information, it was advised that the individual who had expressed the concern was not willing to follow through with the complaint," said diocese spokesman Ken Goldfarb. "The diocese called in Mercure and questioned him. He denied the allegation."

Goldfarb said that in 2008, an attorney sent a letter to the diocese with additional information regarding that same complaint.

"The diocese promptly advised law enforcement authorities," Goldfarb said. "The diocese also conducted its own investigation and concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe Mercure had sexually abused minors and so he was permanently removed from ministry."

Meanwhile, a victim of abuse by Mercure lashed out at the Catholic church Monday alleging the church has for years covered up the allegations and moved such priests from church to church.

Michael Flynn of Clifton Park, who testified about his abuse before a Berkshire County grand jury investigating Mercure, accused diocese officials of covering up years of abuse by Mercure that finally came out during the rape trial.

"Anyone who covers up this type of abuse is just as guilty as Mercure," Flynn, 46, said at a press conference on the sidewalk outside the Pastoral Center on North Main Avenue. "The bishop is also accountable for (Mercure's) actions.

Atone is a word used often in Catholicism and that's what the bishop and the church need to do is atone for their cover-up."

Flynn, who did not testify at the trial, said Mercure "groomed" him when he was a 15-year-old altar boy at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Albany, taking him out to movies and to McDonald's. Flynn said Mercure exposed himself in front of him.