Former Montreal priest convicted in 2019 of abusing boys facing new charges

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Boucher worked in 10 Montreal-area churches between 1985 and 2015. The abuse took place at two churches, between 1995 and 1999 in the case of one victim and between 2008 and 2011 in the other.

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Boucher was granted statutory release in 2024 and was serving the remainder of his sentence in the community at an approved residential facility before his recent arrest.

In a 2024 report before his release, the Parole Board told Boucher that his case management team “mentions that there is a strong possibility that you have committed other sexual acts in the past.”

“In fact, a public inquiry report in September 2020 revealed that several complaints were made against you since the early 1980s concerning your unacceptable behaviour and interest in young boys,” it read. “In 2002, your name was included on an official list of potential pedophiliac priests, produced by a member of the clergy.”

Under the law, statutory release is granted after an inmate has served two-thirds of their sentence, but the board imposed a number of conditions, including requiring Boucher to live at an approved facility and not be in contact with children or the victims.

In late 2025, the Parole Board modified Boucher’s release conditions to order him to stay away from sections of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace and Town of Mount-Royal boroughs, unless for medical reasons, after one of the victims reported seeing him.

He has also been seen in locations where the victim and their family are likely to be present, the report noted.

“The (Correction Service of Canada) assesses that you are not trustworthy, have a history of not respecting the emotional boundaries of others which puts the victims and the victims’ families at risk of further trauma,” read the report.

Boucher was formally stripped of his priesthood in 2020. His conviction and the subsequent independent inquiry sparked criticism of Montreal’s Catholic diocese for failing to take complaints against Boucher seriously.

Montreal’s archbishop promised in 2020 to implement a series of recommendations stemming from the inquiry, including strict protocols for dealing with abuse and sanctions for those who violate rules.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2026.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press