Former Quincy Priest Who Raped Altar Boy to Remain on Probation

Patriot Ledger
December 5, 2019

https://www.patriotledger.com/news/20191205/former-quincy-priest-who-raped-altar-boy-to-remain-on-probation

A former Catholic priest convicted of raping a Waltham altar boy will remain on probation after a judge denied his request to have his sentence cut short.

Robert Gale, a 78-year-old registered sex offender who was assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Quincy in the 1970s, had asked the court to release him early from a 25-year probation stemming from his 2004 guilty pleas on four counts of child rape. Gale had also been sentenced to 4 to 5 years in state prison. He was released from the Massachusetts Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in May 2009.

Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone denied his request after hearing Thursday from Gale and the former altar boy he abused, saying it was too soon for Gale to be relieved of his sentence.

The former altar boy, Marty Crowley, testified that no sentence could be long enough for what Gale did to him. Crowley said he celebrated when Gale pleaded guilty in 2004 because it meant his abuser would pay for his crimes, spending 25 years on probation and 4 to 5 years in prison. He thought the guilty plea would bring closure.