Former priest who sexually abused boys banned from parts of C.D.N.-N.D.G. and T.M.R.

Brian Boucher, who sexually abused two teenage boys while he was a Catholic priest in Montreal, is not allowed to be in parts of the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Town of Mount Royal boroughs because he violated a condition of his release when he crossed paths with one of his victims while apparently attending mass at a church.

In a decision made last week, the Parole Board of Canada decided to add a condition to others imposed on him in 2024 when he automatically qualified for a statutory release. He is serving an eight-year sentence after he was found guilty on Jan. 8, 2019 of sexually abusing a boy between 2008 and 2011 while he was his parish priest. After he was found guilty, Boucher pleaded guilty in another case and admitted he sexually assaulted a different boy between 1995 and 1999.

Offenders serving time in federal penitentiaries in Canada automatically qualify for a statutory release after they reach the two-thirds mark of their sentence if they were not previously granted parole.

Boucher was released on July 23, 2024, but the parole board decided to impose a condition requiring that he reside at a halfway house for the remainder of his sentence.

According to a written summary of the board’s recent decision, during February last year he was transferred to a different halfway house following “multiple incidents with a co-resident.”

More recently, Correctional Service Canada asked that the new condition be imposed because Boucher was at a location where one of his victims happened to be. Details on the location are redacted from the written summary obtained by The Gazette, but it appears Boucher attended mass at a church more than once and that he made eye contact with the victim.

“You are not to be within this section of the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grace Borough: south of Jean-Talon St., east of Highway 15, north of Chemin de la Côte St-Luc/the Boulevard and west of Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges and not to be within this section of the Town of Mount Royal borough: south of Highway 40, east of Highway 15, north of Jean-Talon St. and west of de l’Acadie Blvd., unless for medical reasons authorized by the parole officer in writing,” the parole board wrote in its decision.

The summary makes reference to how the victim made a request in October to impose a much larger geographic restriction, possibly the island of Montreal.

The summary also describes Boucher of having made no change since he was convicted.

“You continue to demonstrate a high level of denial and lack of empathy; the case-management team (the people who prepare offenders for a release) indicates that you still fail to recognize your problems related to your sexual offences, and that while you recognize the need to work on some aspects of your personality, you ‘remain completely closed off’ to working on the reasons leading to your incarceration,” the board wrote.

“Correctional Service Canada assesses that you are not trustworthy, have a history of not respecting the emotional boundaries of others, which puts the victims and the victims’ families at risk of further trauma. It recommends the geographical restriction as the least restrictive measure possible.”

As part of the conditions imposed on Boucher’s release in 2024, he is not allowed to have direct contact with the victims or their relatives, not allowed “to occupy a job, voluntary or paid, that will put you in a position of authority over individuals under 18” and cannot have “contact with individuals under the age of 18, unless you are accompanied by a responsible adult who knows about your offences and with the prior written authorization from your parole supervisor.”

In 2023, while Boucher was incarcerated at a federal penitentiary, he was charged with sexually assaulting another inmate. That case ended in an acquittal last year on March 19 when he agreed to follow the conditions set out in a peace bond, including one ordering Boucher to keep a distance from the other inmate for a year.

pcherry@postmedia.com

Related