Assignment Record– Rev. Gerard T. McMahon

Summary of Case: Gerard T. McMahon was ordained for the Boston archdiocese in 1960. He assisted at parishes in Haverhill, Foxboro and Medford until 1970, when he joined the military. He was unassigned 1990-92, then worked as a school principal for the better part of a decade in an Alabama school, which was part of the Pensacola-Tallahassee diocese. He also served as a fill-in priest at parishes in the diocese. McMahon pleaded guilty in 2006 to indecent assault and rape of a Foxboro, MA girl. The abuse occurred between 1967-1970, when the girl was not quite seven years-old. He was sentenced to lifetime probation, to be served in Florida. He died May 21, 2013.

Born: December 27, 1935
Ordained: 1961
Died: May 21, 2013

   

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

2/14/61

Boston archbishop was Richard James Cushing (1944-1970).

2/22/65 St. John the Baptist Haverhill MA 2/2  
2/23/65 6/11/68 St. Mary's

Foxboro

McMahon was charged in 2006 with rape and indecent assault of a girl, beginning in 1967, when she was not quite seven years- old. The priest would drink too much at gatherings at the girl's family's home in Foxboro, and would stay the night. The the abuse is said to have occurred during those sleepovers.

MA 2/4  
2/23/65 6/11/68 Foxboro State Hospital Foxboro MA   This was a station of St. Mary's.
6/12/68 2/12/69 St. Raphael's Meford MA 3/4 Parish had a school with 324-327 boys and 343-323 girls.

2/12/69

Oakland bishop was Floyd Lawrence Begin (1962-1977).

6/09/70 Navy Alameda CA Military and V.A. chaplain  
6/09/70 6/29/90 Military     chaplain  
6/30/90 12/28/92 No Assignment        

12/29/92

Pensacola-Tallahassee bishop was John Mortimer Fourette Smith (1991-1995), followed by John Huston Ricard, s.s.j.
(1997-2011).

1999? St. Benedict's School Elberta AL principal St. Benedict's was a school for [pre-K through 8th grades], 28 miles from Pensacola, FL. This assignment is per news reports.
1990 2006 Awaiting Assignment/OnDuty Outside the Diocese Pensacola FL   McMahon retired from the military and settled in Florida, where he filled in for priests in parishes of the Pensacola-Tallahassee diocese. The diocese told him in March of 2006, after accusations surfaced, that he was no longer welcome to minister there.

McMahon is last indexed in the 2006 Directory.

In May 2006 McMahon pleaded guilty to rape and indecent assualt on a girl in Foxboro MA during 1967-1970. He was sentenced to a lifetime of probation, which was to be served in Florida.

McMahon died May 21, 2013.


Sources
: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1961-2006)

Ex-Foxborough Priest Indicted on Decades-Old Rape Charge, By Cristina Silva, Boston Globe [Massachusetts], April 14, 2006
Priest Charged in 40-Year-Old Rape, McMahon Stripped of Priesthood after Charges Surfaced, By William Rabb, News Journal
April 18, 2006
Former Foxboro Priest Indicted, By Heather McCarron, Country Gazette, April 21, 2006
Accused Priest Has 'No Memory' of Rape, By Laurel J. Sweet, Boston Herald, April 27, 2006
Life on Parole for Rapist Priest Put to Bed with Girl by Parents, By Laurel J. Sweet, , Boston Herald [Foxboro MA], May 12, 2006
Ex-Foxboro Priest Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault, By David Linton, Sun Chronicle, May 12, 2006
Boston Archdiocese Posts Sex-Abuse Database Online, By Joan Frawley Desmond, National Catholic Register, August 25, 2011
McMahon Assignment History, Archdiocese of Boston
McMahon Obituary, Dignity Memorial, May 2013



Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates McMahon's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on October 27, 2015.