Brothers of the Sacred Heart – SC - BishopAccountability.org

16 Accused in This Religious Order

Br. Roger Argencourt

Order: SC
Status: Settled

Died: 09/23/2002
Diocese: Diocese of Manchester NH

Also known as Br. Odillon. Placed on leave in 1/02. Sued in 4/02 for abuse in 1973-74 at Bishop Guertin High School. He admitted abuse in court records. Also admitted abuse of another student. Second suit filed at a later date. One case settled in 11/03. Authorities in RI were preparing to file charges for abuse at Mount Saint Charles Academy when Argencourt died in 9/02.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Br. Guy Beaulieu

Order: SC
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Manchester NH

Alleged in multiple 2002-04 lawsuits to have abused at least 20 students over a 20 year-period at Bishop Guertin High School in New Hampshire and at Camp Fatima. He admitted the abuse during depositions. Transferred to retirement home in RI in 1990. Complaints made to school officials in 1970s and 1990s. Claims included in 11/02, 8/03 and 5/04 settlements. Multiple known abusers at Bishop Guertin.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Br. Nicholas Paul Bendillo

Order: SC
Status: Convicted

Diocese: Archdiocese of Mobile AL

Known as "Br. Vic." Taught at McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile 1959-1998. Complaint received in 1998. Placed on leave. Received treatment. Arrested in 4/2003. Convicted. Sentenced in 2004 to five years in prison. Multiple plaintiffs with allegations going back to 1963. Civil suit filed in 2003 by two men. Settled in 2004. Two more suits filed in 5/2004. Released from prison hospital 7/04/2007 at age 78. Sent to MO for treatment. On AL and MO sex offender registries. On Mobile archdiocese's list 12/6/2018. Noted to be deceased. On Jackson diocese's list 3/19/2019.

Brother Regis

Donate Photo

Order: SC
Status: Sued

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

A man filed a civil lawsuit in 3/2011 alleging that Br. Regis, also known as Raymond Richard, sexually abused him for several months when he was a 7th grader at Sacred Heart Boarding School in Sharon, MA in the 1950s. The man said he told a priest during confession at the school and was then confronted by the priest, Regis, and the school director. When he returned from Easter break, Regis was gone. The suit was announced in 11/2011. The school had been closed for many years. Regis is deceased.

Sources:

Br. Peter Claver

Order: SC
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Providence RI

Took final vows in 1923. Worked as a teacher and administrator in schools of the Sacred Heart Brothers in New England and Canada. Became superior of Sacred Heart School in Andover, MA in 1970. Died in 4/75. In 4/12, attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced settlement of at least one claim of abuse regarding Claver, of abuse at a school in Rhode Island.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Br. Leon Cyr

Order: SC
Status: Accused

Died: 07/19/2021
Diocese: Diocese of Manchester NH

A man came forward in 4/03 to allege that he was abused by Br. Cyr, a teacher at Bishop Guertin High School, in the early 1980s. Cyr denied the accusation. Attorney for Four plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against the school and the Order, alleging abuse. One man (not original complainant) alleged abuse by Cyr multiple times from 1981 to 1983. Suit still pending in 2004. Cyr died in 2021.

Sources:

Br. Paul L. Gauvin

Donate Photo

Order: SC
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Portland ME

In 12/12 the diocese announced a substantiated claim against Gauvin of abuse of a minor, age 11-12, in the early 1970s. Assigned at the time of the alleged abuse as director of religious education at St. Thomas Aquinas in Madawaska. Gauvin apparently left Maine in 1994 when the order left. He was working as director of liturgy at Sacred Heart parish in Bloomfield CT in 2012 when placed under supervision without contact with minors.

Sources:

Br. Leo R. Labbe

Order: SC
Status: Settled

Diocese: Archdiocese of Boston MA

Took first vows as a Brother of the Sacred Heart in 1959, final vows in 1965. Accused in a lawsuit filed in 11/2002 of forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him in 1960-1961, at Sacred Heart Academy in Andover, MA. Labbe was head of Bishop Guertin High School in NH at the time of the alleged abuse. Per the suit, Labbe, then known as Bro. Gerald, abused the boy on several occasions. Labbe denied the allegations but placed himself on administrative leave. The case settled in 5/2004. Labbe was also accused of not reporting numerous abusers at Bishop Guertin. Omitted from the Boston archdiocese's 2011 database. Celebrated his 60th anniversary of entering the order in 9/2019.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Br. Albert LaFlamme

Donate Photo

Order: SC
Status: Settled

Diocese:

Diocese and the Order settled a civil suit in 5/04 with a man who alleged that he had been abused by LaFlamme 40 or more times 1943-49 at St. Louis school in Nashua. Deceased.

Sources:

Union Leader 06.03.04

Br. Louis Laperle

Order: SC
Status: Acquitted

Died: 10/7/2021
Diocese: Diocese of Worcester MA

"Br. Philip." A man alleged in 2003 that he was molested by Laperle in 1968 when Laperle was teacher and/or principal at Notre Dame Academy in Fitchburg. Laperle left MA in 1969 for RI and never returned. In 4/2004, Laperle was acquitted by a jury of charges of assault and battery involving the student in 1968. The alleged incident actually involved indecent assault and battery but that charge did not exist in 1968, so it could not be used. Retired after acquittal. Died in 10/2021.

Sources:

Br. William Leimbach

Donate Photo

Order: SC
Status: Sued

Diocese: Diocese of Jackson MS

Civil suit filed in 7/07 in federal court alleged abuse of a 15-year-old boy in 1983-84 at Saint Stanislaus College/Saint Stanislaus High School by a "Brother William." School was run by the Sacred Heart Order. Leimbach was removed from ministry with students in 1991 after complaints by two students; he was allowed to continue work with adults and within the order. Was living since 2005 in Burrillville, RI

Sources:

Br. Shawn McEnany

Order: SC
Status: Guilty plea

Died: 07/14/2017
Diocese: Diocese of Portland ME

Pleaded guilty in 1988 to unlawful sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl, who was a student at a Lewiston ME High School. Received two one-year suspended sentences and one year probation. Hired in 1990 to work at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, NH. The Order thought it was ok since it was a boys school and he abused a girl. Placed on leave in 1997; charged with violating a state law that bars sex offenders from working with children and for failing to register as a sex offender. Charges dropped in 1999. Moved to RI, became a social worker. Named in the Maine Attorney General's 2004 Report. Died in 2017. Accused in a 5/2018 lawsuit of sexually assaulting a girl at Bishop Guertin High School in 1995. Hearing set for 9/21/2020. Lawsuit awaiting trial in 5/2025.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Br. Ralph McGarry

Order: SC
Status: Accused

Diocese: Archdiocese of Mobile AL

Named publicly as accused on the Archdiocese of Mobile's list 12/6/2018. 'Misconduct' noted to have occurred 1960-1961. No indication as to where. Assigned at some point in the archdiocese to the Catholic Boys Home. Deceased.

Sources:

Br. Regis Moccia

Donate Photo

Order: SC
Status: Sued

Died: 06/28/2002
Diocese: Diocese of Metuchen NJ

Accused in a lawsuit filed in 9/20 of sexually abusing a boy, ages 13-14, in about 1994-95. The alleged victim was a student at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen. Accused in a 2021 lawsuit of sexually abusing a boy, ages 14-15, during 1981-82, while assigned to St. Joseph's High. Moccia died 6/28/02.

Sources:

Br. Albert J. Morel

Order: SC
Status: Accused

Died: 03/15/1998
Diocese: Diocese of Manchester NH

Br. Adrian. Ordained to the priesthood in 1972. Teacher at Bishop Guertin High School. A former student alleged that in 1981 (after he graduated) he went to Morel for counseling because of a sexual problem and that Morel told him to unzip his pants, then fondled him. The former student said he left but that next time he saw Morel, Morel hugged him and told him he loved him. The man then wrote a letter to the head brother at Bishop Guertin. Morel died in 3/98.

Assignments:

BA.org Assignment Record

Sources:

Fr. John D. Spaulding

Order: SC
Ordained: 1971
Status: Indicted

Died: 02/25/2020
Diocese: Diocese of Phoenix AZ

"Jack." Removed without faculties 6/2011 when accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in the mid-1980s at St. Maria Goretti in Scottsdale. Review board found allegation credible. County Attorney did not investigate because alleged victim was deceased. A second man filed a complaint 8/2011; no prosecution due to the statute of limitations. Two more accusers came forward. The father of the original victim filed suit in 6/2012; dismissed. Special Tribunal in Rome 1/2014 recommended laicization. In 6/2019 a man alleged Spaulding abused him as a boy. Indicted in 1/2020 related to accusations he abused two boys under age 15 in 2003-2007, while assigned to St. Gabriel's in Phoenix and St. Timothy's in Mesa. Per Spaulding's attorney in 2/2020, the priest was too ill to appear in court for his arraignment. Rescheduled for 3/6/2020, but Spaulding died 2/25/2020.

Assignments:

Diocese of Phoenix Community Notification Statements 10.15.12