Defrocked Priest Could Be Charged, by George Pawlaczyk, Belleville News-Democrat, April 17, 2006

Defrocked Priest Could Be Charged

By George Pawlaczyk
Belleville News-Democrat
April 17, 2006

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/14359707.htm

A defrocked priest living in Belleville, who admitted he sexually molested boys in Massachusetts decades ago, could be prosecuted if a victim comes forth and statute-of-limitation requirements are met.

And if a prosecution is brought against the Rev. Real Bourque, 78, a resident of the St. Henry Oblate Retirement home on North 60th Street, a potential witness could be another priest who told church officials in Massachusetts that Bourque abused that priest's brother.

That priests' brother wrote a 1994 letter to Cardinal Bernard Law, former archbishop of Boston, stating that in 1979 Bourque had abused him in South Natick, Mass., where Bourque was then assigned. The letter also referred to Bourque sexually molesting members of a local boys choir.

The Rev. Real Bourque is seen on the left, interacting with teenagers in 2002 during a retreat sponsored by a cable TV station operated by the Catholic church.
• Earlier story: Molester now resides in Belleville (4/13/06)

"For any time the alleged perpetrator is not in the State of Massachusetts, the time on the statute of limitations stops..." said Emily LaGrassa, spokesman for the Middlesex County district attorney's office, which has jurisdiction over South Natick.

Furnished with copies of two News-Democrat articles from last week about Bourque and with copies of the alleged victim's letter to Cardinal Law and Law's sympathetic response, LaGrassa said Friday, "I'm not really in a position to make an opinion as to whether or not this case, if there is a case, could be prosecuted."

LaGrassa said that two requirements to prosecute a sexual assault in her county are that the crime falls within the statute of limitations and that a victim is willing to come forward and testify.

The copy of the 1994 letter to Law obtained by the News-Democrat came from a civil court file and had the alleged victim's name and address redacted. However, the complete letter including the name of the alleged victim would be available to Massachusetts police and prosecutors.

Last week, current and former Diocese of Belleville officials including former Bishop Wilton Gregory, now the Archbishop of Atlanta, stated they had no knowledge that Bourque had been transferred to the retirement home in 2002. Gregory said through a spokesman that had he known about Bourque's child molesting past, he would not have allowed the priest to reside in the diocese.

The retirement home's supervisor, the Rev. James Taylor, has said Bourque had confessed his sexual abuse to other retired priests during a meeting about six months after his arrival. Bourque also told a News-Democrat reporter that he sexually abused boys and had been abused himself as a child, but declined further comment.

In 2004, the Middlesex County district attorney in Massachusetts successfully prosecuted suspended priest Romano Ferraro for raping a boy from 1970 until 1981. Ferraro, who had lived out of state, was sentenced to life in prison.

And in nearby Norfolk County, a former Foxborough priest, who had also lived out of state, was indicted on Thursday for allegedly raping a girl younger than 14 nearly 40 years ago.

According to a time-table compiled by the Masschusetts-based, non-profit Bishop Accountability Project, Bourque was assigned outside of Massachusetts for at least 19 years during the 27 years since 1979, the earliest reference in letters to church officials from the civil case file of sexual abuse by Bourque.

The normal six-year statute of limitations in Massachusetts for sexual abuse of a child is six years. If a rape occurred in 1979, the normal statute of limitations would expire in 1985.

Deducting the 19 years that Bourque may have been out of Massachusetts leaves a total of eight years that he could have remained in that state after the alleged molestation mentioned in the letter to the former archbishop. If victims are found from later years, Bourque could conceivably be prosecuted in other cases, too.

In 1979, a letter from the Boston civil court file refers to a "sabbatical" taken by Bourque to Washington, D.C., for "counseling." The same letter refers to "incidents in Maine before Natick," where Bourque allegedly molested children in that state.

But it was not until 1994, according to still another letter from the same court file, that Bourque was sent to a Catholic Church-operated center in Maryland that specializes in treatment of pedophilia. He left after about a year.

When released, he was allowed to return to working for the Catholic sponsored cable television station EWTN in Birmingham, Ala., but not on camera as he had done before with his own show, "Let your light shine."

However, in 2002, the year Bourque retired to Belleville, he was listed on EWTN's Web site as a speaker at a national conclave for teenagers.

Contact reporter George Pawlaczyk at gpawlaczyk@bnd.com and 239-2625.