Montreal priest who sexually abused boys gets 8 years in prison

AMontreal priest who sexually abused two former parishioners when they were boyshas been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Quebec court Judge PatriciaCompagnone handed down the sentenceto Brian BoucherMonday, based on ajoint recommendation from the Crown and the defence.

Boucherwas 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.

Thatvictim was just 11 when the abuse began.That abusecontinued for two years.

He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting another victim, also a former altar boy, starting in 2008,in the rectory ofa 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 victimsaid he still has daily flashbacks about the abuseand 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 victimssaid 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 saidthe abuse will always be present in his life, and it is somethinghe 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."