Former Oakland County priest 79-year-old Gary Berthiaume has been sentenced to between 17 months and 15 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct. Michigan Assistant Attorney General Danielle Russo Bennetts says the charges stemmed from allegations of abuse in the 1970s involving three different victims who were between 13 and 15-years-old at the time.
“The mere fact that Mr. Berthiaume managed to escape culpability for all these years doesn’t excuse it for them, it doesn’t take away the trauma from them, it doesn’t take away the pain for them,” says Bennetts. “I will say that we did charge (him for ) three victims, but our investigation really did reveal many other victims of Mr. Berthiaume that we could not charge due to the statute of limitations.”
Berthiaume was a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wyandotte and later at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington during that timeframe. He will be required to register as a tier II sex offender and undergo counseling.
