Appeal Denied for Albany Priest Convicted of Raping Altar Boys in the Berkshires

The Ynn
April 3, 2013

http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/653135/appeal-denied-for-albany-priest-convicted-of-raping-altar-boys-in-the-berkshires/


PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- An appeal for a new trial in the case of an Albany priest convicted of four counts of rape has been denied by a Massachusetts appellate court.

Gary Mercure was found guilty in 2011 of raping two altar boys in Berkshire County in the 1980s. Mercure was a priest with the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese in Queensbury at the time of the incident.

The two boys said he raped them while on a trip to the Berkshires.

In his appeal, Mercure's lawyer says the trial judge should not have allowed the jury to hear testimony about uncharged sex crimes from the two victims who were raped or from four other alleged victims who testified about incidents of sexual abuse by Mercure.

Mercure is serving a sentence of 20 to 25 years in state prison.