Montreal priest who sexually abused boys gets 8 years in prison

A Montreal priest who sexually abused two former parishioners when they were boys has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Quebec court Judge Patricia Compagnone handed down the sentence to Brian Boucher Monday, based on a joint recommendation from the Crown and the defence. 

Boucher was handcuffed in the courtroom and led away by a constable.

Boucher, who worked at 10 churches in Montreal over the course of two decades, pleaded guilty in January to abusing a former altar boy in LaSalle in the 1990s. 

That victim was just 11 when the abuse began. That abuse continued for two years.

He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting another victim, also a former altar boy, starting in 2008, in the rectory of a church in the Town of Mount Royal when he was the parish priest there.

'Deliberate and calculated' acts, victim tells court

Both victims gave impact statements Monday morning.

The younger victim said he still has daily flashbacks about the abuse and that he suffers panic attacks whenever the phone rings or when he sees the same model of car that Boucher drove.

"Father Boucher's actions were deliberate and calculated," said the man, who is not being identified because he was a minor at the time of the abuse.

The man said he ultimately came forward to spare other children from suffering what he endured.

The older of the victims said it was hard to put into words the impact Boucher's abuse had on his life.

"It takes something from you that you know you're never going to get back," he said.

He said the abuse will always be present in his life, and  it is something he has to talk about with anyone he hopes to get close to.

In a statement Monday, the Montreal Roman Catholic archdiocese said it is "satisfied that justice has been served, marking a critical step in the healing process for all those terribly wounded by [Boucher's] conduct: the victims, their loved ones and the community."

The statement notes that Boucher is "permanently barred from all ministerial functions within the Church."