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Defrocked Priest Agrees to Mental Health Counseling

By Mark Hayward
New Hampshire Union Leader
April 12, 2017

http://www.unionleader.com/religion/Defrocked-priest-agrees-to-mental-health-counseling-04122017

Edward J. Arsenault

Defrocked monsignor Edward Arsenault shaved 60 days off his incarceration by participating in mental health counseling and is finishing out his prison sentence on house arrest somewhere in Rockingham County, according to state corrections officials.

Meanwhile, a top state prosecutor said no criminal charges will be brought in connection with a consulting contract that Arsenault had with Catholic Medical Center.

When Arsenault pleaded guilty to theft charges in 2014, he promised to work with police, who were looking into the $200-an-hour consulting contract he had signed with then-hospital President Alyson Pitman Giles.

Last week, Catholic Church officials announced that Arsenault — the face of the New Hampshire Catholic Church during the priest-sex abuse crisis of the early 2000s — had been formally stripped of his clerical duties and obligations.

The CMC-Arsenault contract netted more than $104,000 in consulting fees for Arsenault. At the time, prosecutors had questioned whether the contract was created for other-than-valid reasons, and the potential existed for charges against hospital officials.

But Jane Young, an assistant New Hampshire attorney general, said this week that the investigation found no crime.

“Based on further review, no additional charges were brought against any individual,” Young said.

In April 2014, Arsenault pleaded guilty to stealing $300,000 from the Manchester Diocese and the estate of a fellow priest, the Rev. Msgr. John Molan. During the time of the thefts, the prelate was involved in a liaison with Luke Parkin, a gay recording artist who Arsenault gifted with hotel stays, a cellphone and trips to the west coast.

Arsenault had been serving his sentence in Cheshire County House of Correction in Keene.

On April 4, he was released from the jail and now lives in Rockingham County under administrative home confinement, said Ashlyn St. Germain, executive assistant for the Adult Parole Board.

She said Arsenault has not technically been paroled; that happens only once a minimum time served is reached, and Arsenault doesn’t reach his minimum until next February, St. Germain said.

“He is still considered an inmate, but at the lowest custody status,” said Corrections Department spokesman Jeffrey Lyons.

Arsenault has a job, which is a requirement of home confinement, but Lyons said privacy provisions of the state’s Right-to-Know law prevent him from releasing details.

Nor would he discuss the hours that Arsenault must be home or how much of the $259,240 in restitution he has repaid, again citing privacy protections in the Right-to-Know law.

Young said Arsenault has made some small restitution payments, even from jail, where he performed contract work as a proofreader.

According to court filings, Corrections Commissioner Bill Wrenn approved the 60-day sentence reduction as earned time credit.

A 2014 state law allows officials to reduce sentences for successful activities such as counseling, education and family connections.

“Mr. Arsenault has used his time while incarcerated constructively, engaging in mental health counseling,” court papers read.

The Behavioral Health Earned Time Credit Review Committee recognized his “documented growth and commitment to change.”

Contact: mhayward@unionleader.com

 

 

 

 

 




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