DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Metro Times
September 29, 2020
By Steve Neavling
A 78-year-old former priest in Farmington has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old in the 1970s as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel continues to crack down on abuse within the state’s seven Catholic dioceses.
Gary Berthiaume, 78, was arrested Tuesday at his home in Warrendale, Ill., and was charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony that carries up to 15 years in prison.
The assault allegedly occurred at the rectory of Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington in 1977, when Berthiaume was a priest with the Archdiocese of Detroit. That same year, Berthiaume was arrested for sexually assaulting two other minors in Michigan and sentenced to six months in the Oakland County Jail. After his release, he was transferred to the Diocese of Cleveland and then moved to the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.