WICHITA (KS)
Associated Press via WKSN
September 13, 2019
By Morgan Lee and Mary Hudetz
Santa Fe, NM – A former Roman Catholic priest who fled the country decades ago was sentenced Friday in New Mexico to 30 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing an altar boy at a veterans’ cemetery and military base.
In ordering the sentence, U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez said it was the worst case of child sex abuse she has handled over the course of 26 years.
At one point, the judge demanded that 81-year-old defendant Arthur Perrault look a woman in the eyes as she testified about being abused by him.
The judge also condemned Perrault for only being concerned about his sexual needs.
“You chose as a profession the life of being a priest. It was supposed to be your job to help, not destroy,” she said.
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