Former Gatineau priest Jacques Faucher found guilty of sexually assaulting 3 boys

Former Roman Catholicpriest Jacques Faucher, of Gatineau, Que., has been found guilty of sexually molesting three choirboys in the 1970s.

Faucher was retired in 2013 when Ottawa police laid 14 charges of indecent assault and gross indecency against him.Theoffences werealleged to have involved five victims andoccurred between1969 and1974.

On Wednesday, in an Ottawa courtroom, Justice Pierre Roger foundFaucherguilty on six of the 14chargesinvolving three of the five victims.

One of the three victims, who cannot be named due to a publication ban,was in court for the verdict.

'I wasn't alone for these 40 years'

"It's mixed feelings today. I feel good because Faucher was found guilty of the accusations [involving]me, but also a little empty because two of the five of us who went forward, he was found not guilty for them," the man said.

He said one of the other two alleged victims was the reason he came forward to police in the first place.

"I wasn't alone for these 40 years. I thought I was. And suddenly, these people that I was friends with at 11, 10 and 12 years old, they were suffering the same things I was ... and I wasn't aware.

"I didn't come forward for 40 years because it was one time, and I figured talking against a priest probably wouldn't get me anywhere. But people have to realize that these things don't happen in isolation."

Justice Roger told the other two alleged victims Wednesday that just because Faucher was found not guilty of the eight other charges involving them, doesn't mean the assaults didn't happen. But from a legal perspectivethere was reasonable doubt, Roger said.

Faucher served at 4 parishes, taught at schools

Ordained in 1960, Faucher served at four parishes before retiring: Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Saint-Louis-Marie-de-Montfort, Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc and Christ-Roi.

He taught at the Grand Sminaire as well as several high schools, and served as a French language consultant, according to his profile with the Archdiocese of Ottawa.

The Archdiocese of Ottawa issued a statement Wednesday saying that in light of the conviction,Faucher'ssuspension from the ministry and prohibition from representing himself as a priest will continue "indefinitely."

"I invite the faithful to pray with me that justice may be done and that healing and reconciliationwill come to the victims,"ArchbishopTerrencePrendergastis quoted as saying.

The archdiocesealsorepeated part of its statement from 2013, when the charges against Faucher were first laid:

"Our diocese is committed to creating a safe environment in the church for minors and other vulnerable persons. We are also committed to a process of justice and reconciliation for thevictims of clergy abuse,"Prendergast is quoted as saying.