Father Gordon J. MacRae, wrongly convicted of sexual misconduct, may finally be freed soon, after serving nearly thirty years in prison. Father MacRae, who tells his story on his blog Beyond These Stone Walls, has long been believed to be innocent of the alleged crimes for which he was convicted in 1994. He has many supporters, though – among them, the Wall Street Journal.
On October 9, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “Justice Delayed for Father MacRae”, by famed civil rights attorney Harvey Silverglate. The article cited new evidence that New Hampshire Detective James McLaughlin, the detective whose investigative report led to the priest’s conviction, had submitted false reports in an earlier case and, Silverglate believed, likely in the MacRae case as well. According to Silverglate, the detective’s name was included in the original “Laurie List” – a catalog of law enforcement officers who had falsified evidence in order to secure a guilty verdict. McLaughlin was proven to have falsified records in an unrelated case, nine years before Fr. MacRae went to trial.
Silverglate reasoned that this newly uncovered evidence of Detective McLaughlin’s past misconduct raises serious concerns about the Fr. MacRae case. This revelation was important, according to the Wall Street Journal, because
…MacRae has not only vehemently argued that McLaughlin paid off his accusers to manufacture a case against him but that recordings by McLaughlin of the priest purporting to prove MacRae’s guilt were bogus. Indeed, when MacRae demanded that that these recordings be turned over for his trial, McLaughlin was suddenly unable to produce them, claiming that they were taped over and that transcripts of the recordings were not made due to an alleged ‘clerical error.’
Widespread belief in Fr. MacRae’s innocence
Silverglate’s new report is not the only public defense of the prisoner priest. His case has received attention from journalists and from voices within the Church.
In 2005, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dorothy Rabinowitz, a member of the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board, published an account of the travesty of justice by which Fr. MacRae was convicted. Her report was described by Father Richard John Neuhaus in First Things magazine as “a story of a Church and a justice system that seem indifferent to justice.”
In September 2008, Father Neuhaus published an editorial in First Things calling the case “A Kafkaesque Tale.”
Father Michael Orsi, writing for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, insisted that “Bogus Charges Against Priests Abound.”
The late Cardinal Avery Dulles believed in Father MacRae’s innocence and encouraged him to write his story. Cardinal Dulles wrote in 2005,
Someday your story and that of your fellow sufferers will come to light and will be instrumental in a reform. Your writing, which is clear, eloquent, and spiritually sound, will be a monument to your trials.
The following year, Cardinal Dulles invited Father MacRae to contribute a chapter to the volume of Christian literature from believers who were unjustly imprisoned.
Cary Solomon, writer, producer, and director of the pro-life film “Unplanned” has said,
Fr. Gordon Macrae is beyond innocent. It is a travesty that he is in jail. If you listened and read the evidence, transcripts, videos, audio tapes you would be horrified. The people who did this need to get on their knees and beg forgiveness from God.
And William Donohue, Ph.D., president of the Catholic League for Religious Liberty and Civil Rights, said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” Show, “There is no segment of the American population with less civil liberties protection than the average American Catholic priest.”
Prejudice against the Church led to improper verdict
Why was Father MacRae convicted if, as he asserts, he had not taken sexual liberties with a young man? The clergy abuse scandal was fresh in the news in 1994, when Father MacRae was accused of sexual assault; and there was a lot of anger toward the Catholic Church. The accuser was 27-year-old Thomas Grover – a man with a long history of violence, theft, and drug charges. The charges against Father MacRae were uncorroborated; in fact, many people, including Grover’s ex-wife and son, testified that Grover had told them the incident didn’t really occur.
Although Grover himself stood to benefit substantially from filing a complaint against the priest (he was eventually awarded $200,000 from the diocese), the court found Father MacRae guilty.
Offered a plea deal which would have brought only two or three years in jail, Father MacRae declined. He was innocent and refused to confess to any crime, even a misdemeanor offense. He was found guilty without evidence or corroborating testimony. New Hampshire Judge Arthur Brennan then imposed a harsh 33-1/2 to 67-year sentence in the New Hampshire State Penitentiary.
As Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Father MacRae’s case is troubling to anyone concerned for the state of due process, justice, and liberty in America.” Catholics and others who value the integrity of the judicial system will be watching this month for signs that the case against Father MacRae might be revisited.
Please continue to keep him in your prayers.
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It’s worth emphasizing that the Bishop with jurisdiction in this injustice threw Fr. Macrae to the wolves, which is what the faithful have been taught to expect from the cult of false shepherds in the US (and Europe and South America).
Certainly there is no Justice to be found in American civil life – not when the FBI, the Justice Dept, and the CIA are weaponized against citizens. And the case has also been amply demonstrated that Justice is a shattered virtue in the Church as exemplified by far too many bishops – including the Bishop of Rome who levels a heavy hammer against his enemies in the Church and who shields and provides solace to those whom he favors.
For those who wallow in injustice, they have only to await the judgment of the All-Just God.
Typical trumpian BS. Not what I expect from Catholic trained people who should understand logic.
You’re naive if you think the American justice system always gets it right, is infallible, and doesn’t target U.S. citizens it doesn’t like. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said it best: “The intelligence community has six ways to Sunday to get back at you.”
I am shocked to read of Fr. Macrae’s continued imprisonment and ashamed to say that I had forgotten about his situation after reading about it years ago and stopped praying for him. I believe he is the victim of a dreadful miscarriage of justice and desperately hope this will finally be corrected.
He wasn’t “wrongly convicted.” He pleaded guilty to multiple counts and was found on examination to be a sexual predator. See the report on IndepthNH.
Please provide a link.
Look up Gordon McRae on bishopaccountability.org and click on the link to the 26 page AG report. It’s all there, including the findings of the psychologists who recommended that he not be admitted to seminary (one was against and the other proceed with caution). As well as findings that he is a committed sexual predator. There is also the issue of possession of child pornography. The description of him delivering a minor to another priest to be raped is disgusting.
Why would you trust the 26 page AG report? The AGs office in NH is corrupt. Hid corrupt police officer who framed MacRae for starters. They wanted to get st the money and framing MacRae was the way to do it. Also, Sylvia Gale who was the Catholic Child Services person who called McLaughlin was cited in a 1999 report for conflicts of interest. AGS office dismissed child abuse at YDC. Now they have suddenly found millions of documents about YDC. Who do you trust and why?
Claire, I believe it important to make a distinction. The NH Attorney General is one thing. The psychologist who examined MacRae BEFORE he went to seminary is quite another.
So, is the psychologist’s findings falsified in the AG report, or did it say what the AG report claimed?
For the record, here is the link to one of the documents that discusses that evaluation. Was this document falsified?
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/docs/manchester/NHAG_06846.pdf
Here’s a link to where you can find other documents as well:
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/reports/2003_03_03_NHAG/NHAG_10_MacRae.htm
In the case with Grover however, MacRae was not guilty due to false
evidence.
Read what Ryan has to say about Damien Fisher who writes IndepthNH.
https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/weaponized-psychology-the-psych-evals-of-father-macrae.
The report in InDepth New Hampshire was written by Damien Fisher who has a conflict of interests in reporting due to his marriage to someone at the Union Leader. Is Ann the Least actually Damien Fisher or AnnMarie Timmons married to Judge Delker who also has an interest in hiding the truth. This is the biggest scandal in New Hampshire and the fraud needs to be fully exposed. The fraud was repeated with St Pauls School and some of the very same people were involved. $932.5 billion in Pandora Papers in NH and guess whose company is listed? Edward Arsenault’s “Virtus” -“Protecting God’s Children”. Arsenault who now goes by the name of Edward Bolognini and has a company in West Palm Beach Florida called DaFranz importing all things Italian. There is no division between Church and State in NH and no division between James F McLaughlin and a racket that involved journalists, judges, prosecutors, police, civil attorneys Chuck Douglas, Gordon MacDonald and others. This is the crime and Racket of the century. Bad luck to Damien Fisher if he’s trying to protect journalists who were involved in the racket. Remember the expenses that Edward Arsenault clocked up defrauding the diocese for. The Catholic Chirch should be laser focused on this atrocity and extortion racket. James F McLaughlin is a pervert who posed on line as a 15 year old “Adam” and sent unsolicited sexual images of minors – federal entrapment. You cannot have an honest trial in a dishonest state where police, journalists and prosecutors collude. They did it with MacRae and they did it with Owen Labrie of St Pauls School. There are a number of officials who should be facing investigation over what went down and held accountable. Meanwhile the State and some of the very same people covered up horrific sex abuse at the State’s Youth Detention Center. Over 800 lawsuits and the State’s two lead prosecutors just stepped down after the state suddenly found millions of documents. Read my articles in Granite Grok on the sham. This should receive worldwide attention for an orchestrated framing and extortion racket.
Unless you live under a rock, you must know that innocent people often accept plea deals in an attempt to avoid even longer terms of imprisonment. Its VERY hard to fight manufactured “evidence”. Its the same way a company shells out “settlement” cash to fraudulent accusers of their products to avoid going to trial, because too many people on juries think corporations have deep pockets that anyone should be able to pick.He may have been advised to accept a deal in order to avoid worse. Many jurors like to “make an example” out of someone falsely if it serves their point of view. People are railroad all the time. Think Kyle Rittenhouse. The DA there was prosecuting for political reasons. It did not mean Rittenhouse was guilty. I hope Father gets his case looked at again, and then I hope he sues the state for a bundle.
Ann the Least is wrong. New Hampshire offered MacRae a 1-to-2 year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea, but MacRae chose to assert his innocence at trial. His case went to a jury.
For more facts on this, please see this easy-to-follow summary:
*EXCLUSIVE REPORT* Alarming New Evidence May Exonerate Imprisoned Priest
http://www.themediareport.com/2012/02/20/new-evidence-may-exonerate-priest-gordon-j-macrae/
Full disclosure. I am the author of the post.
Father Gordon MacRae never pled guilty to the charges he was convicted of in 1994. The key evidence is:
~ Father MacRae has long been believed to be innocent of the alleged crimes for which he was convicted in 1994. He maintained his innocence throughout the legal process.
~ Father MacRae admitted guilt in 1988 to a misdemeanor charge after being threatened by a corrupt detective. However, this was a separate case from the 1994 conviction for which he is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence.
~ There is widespread belief in Fr. MacRae’s innocence and there is evidence of misconduct by the detective who investigated the 1994 case, including allegations that he paid off accusers and falsified evidence.
The initial press spin on this case was that he was “never convicted.” Which was true, he pleaded guilty on several charges. The latest spin is that he was “falsely convicted.” The facts say otherwise. The Catholic press has no more desire to be accurate than the secular press, it seems.
That is not true. There is enough information about his innocence from multiple sources if you want to take time to read them.
“The initial press spin on this case was that he was ‘never convicted’.”
Who ever said *that*? A jury convicted him, and without $ for additional trials, he pleaded guilty to additional charges in what Fr. MacRae has long called “a negotiated lie.”
You claim to know this case extensively, but you don’t even know the basics.
Having never heard anything about what “Ann the Least” indicated, I searched for one minute, and found this summary of what appear to be other prior offenses, including solicitation of a minor, at BishopAccountability:
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/accused/macrae-gordon-j-1982/
If the offenses in this summation are true, I am stunned that this particular case was presented without the context of other related offenses.
Does the anyone know if there is indeed a larger story here?
Click on the link from bishopaccountability.org to the 26 age NH AG report. It’s all there. I’ve followed the case in depth from day one.
It’s easy to make claims about someone behind bars who the State has never once let defend himself. Everything about this case is tainted. Including the journalism that came from those working with Arsenault, Delker, MacDonald and McLaughlin.
There is a lot more to the story which Ann the Least doesn’t want to come out apparently. Whatever Ann the Least claims, there is no getting around the fact that McLaughlin has a dishonest record a full 9 years ahead of the MacRae trial which was hidden from MacRae and defense. If Ann the Least wants to continue to protect extreme corruption in New Hampshire and the racketeering then Ann the Least must be part of it. We have traced the records and the receipts and the people and some of the accounts. It’s all there.
Edward Arsenault went to St Lukes Institute in Maryland after leaving the Diocese of Manchester on the heals of a priest finding sex toys and porn magazines in Arsenault’s possession. Arsenault was then caught in 2014 having defrauded the Diocese, stealing from a dead priest’s estate and a Catholic hospital (CMC Manchester I believe). He shook hands with assistant AG Jane Young when he took a plea deal and instead of going to Concord men’s prison where Father Gordon is, he quickly transfered to Keene County Jail – close to James F McLaughlin. He was released on home confinement and has been out a couple of years as Edward Bolognini working at ReServe in Ny- another non-profit. His restitution of $300k was paid while he was in jail. Who paid it? And why?
I you are willing to take the time, you will find all the accusations in Bishop’s Accountability are false. Also find out who “Bishop’s Accountability” is put together by.
Shame on IndepthNH–journalism at it’s worst.
The notion that Father MacRae “pled guilty” to other charges is part of the fraud being spun by that same reporter. He refused a sentence of one year and went through a trial. He was then sentenced to 67 years for refusing the plea deal. He would have been released 27 years ago had he actually been guilty or willing to pretend so. After that trial his attorney quit because of the lack of funds and the priest’s own bishop publicly denounced him in a press release in order to hasten settlements. Without legal counsel he was coerced into a post trial plea offering zero prison time. Twenty-five percent of this nation’s DNA exonerations came after similar coerced plea deals. Only those who have never been before the bar of injustice refuse to understand what took place here.
Here is the full AG report: https://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/reports/ManchesterReport10MacRae.pdf
Joseph, you need to learn to do an internet search rather than asking for links. That way you get several links with ore information than you really want.
Bishop Accountability and Damien Fisher of InDepthNH are both jaded sources with an agenda on this story. The Wall Street Journal investigated this case thoroughly, and has published four major articles on it. It is interesting that those wanting to spin this will point readers to fringe sites and not The Wall Street Journal. A former highly decorated FBI Special Agent Supervisor spent three years investigating this case and concluded, “I found no evidence that Fr. MacRae committed these crimes or any crimes.” As to a prior case of solicitation, the context is that every aspect of this case was brought forward by a single police officer now known to have fabricated evidence and is alledged to have bribed accusers. Here is a link to Ryan A. MacDonald’s research in response to some of these unjust claims: https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/a-reporter-s-bias-taints-the-defense-of-fr-gordon-macrae
Gosh, Eileen, you provided a link! Didn’t you know that what you’re supposed to is make claims and then sneer that people need to do an Internet search and that they don’t want information? Get with the program! 😉
More accusations like this will continue to crop up. That is not to say some priests have not committed terrible acts. However, until the monetary incentive is erased, this will go on. The church should offer those who make such claims an offer to pay for therapy. Nothing else.The object should be to help genuine victims, not to provide a lotto win to accusers, some of whom may not be legitimate. Such settlements have bankrupted several dioceses, to what good end???
Please read my post on Medium.com which goes into the MacRae case and ties it to the St Paul’s School case as well and the framing of scholarship student Owen Labrie. Many of the same people involved in both. There is unequivocal proof that both were framed and that there was blackmail and bribery involved and racketeering. Gordon MacDonald involved in both- he is NH AC Chief Justice. Jim Rosenberg of Shaheen and Gordon and formerly of AGs office involved in both. David Vicinanzo involved in both. Non-profits re child services or DV and SA involved in both who stood to gain. Chuck Douglas, former NH SC Chief Justice and now Chair of Judicial Selection committee involved in both. He’s now in the hot seat over Youth Detention Center sex abuse and cover ups- he sent a 13 year old impregnated rape victim back to YDC for not naming her rapist… Judge Larry Smukler involved in both: he denied MacRae a retrial and then the following year he presided over Owen Labrie’s trial and then denied him a retrial. Follow the money, the kick backs, the collusion, bribery, blackmail and fraud.
In light of the State of New Hampshire’s sudden discovery of millions of documents pertaining to cover ups of sex abuse at the Yourh detention center and the resignation of two prosecutors for the state without explanation, I believe that the Catholic Chirch should ask the Star of New Hampshire about ethical divisions between church and state and the coercion of minors to make statements to benefit the state or civil attorneys. It is a serious problem that the state would protect a dishonest police officer for decades and refuse a retrial of a priest who was framed by that police officer after the state knew of the police officer’s record of misconduct.
The vehemence of Ann the Least is suspect. Is this actually the reporter Damien Fisher? If so, he should be putting his journalistic standards to good use. He could begin by asking an important question. If Fr. MacRae was guilty of everything these suspicious reports allege, then the real scandal is that NH prosecutors offered him one year in prison to plead guilty. The offer was put in writing and is still part of the file. If he was the monster they now claim him to be then such an offer by a prosecutor would be criminal malpractice. The truth is that all these smarmy reports, but no evidence, surfaced only later. What was the State’s interest in this total character assassination long after the priest had been sent to prison. Was it to silence him? And there is a bigger question: In 2002 the State convened a grand jury to generate all these reports, again with zero evidence, while covering up a massive scandal of the sexual abuse of minors at the State Youth Detention Facility. There are now over 800 open sexual abuse lawsuits alleging abuse by State employees at the same time the State was badgering the Church over 40-year-old claims of abuse. There is something very strange in the water in New Hampshire.
Well said. Pyramid and Ponzi schemes are not unusual in New Hampshire. The NH Governor’s report FRM Ponzi scheme demonstrates that the AG’s office, the banking department ignored warnings and were essentially complicit. It is the same I believe you will find in the extortion of the Diocese of Manchester, St Paul’s School and Dartmouth College. Chuck Douglas Esq filed suits in all three for millions. But when he was NH SC Chief Justice he sent a child rape victim back to Youth Detention Center because she wouldn’t name her rapist. The judiciary in NH sadly is not independent and nor is the AG’s office nor police department, nor non-profits. Children are bullied, lied to, force-fed tales by police and prosecutors who have a too close alliance with local ambulance chasing attorneys and the AGs office and media.
Thank you for this context on corruption of the NH legal establishment.
It sounds like hell-on-earth up there.
Hell on Earth? For New England’s unborn children that sounds more like Vermont.
There is one more point that must be made here. Some of the comments here asked for the context of this story. I commend The Catholic World Report and Kathy Schiffer for boldly covering it. This video interview with Dorothy Rabinowitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning member of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, summed up the context in which this story took place. This interview, along with each of her in-depth articles, took place after the reports cited in these comments were written. This short video interview is a summary judgment on these reports. https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/rabinowitz-on-fr-macrae-case
The man admitted in court he was guilty in 1988. If he was innocent and pled guilty, that would be a lie, a violation of one of the Ten Commandments. He was free, but doubtless his diocese would watch him as carefully as they might an embezzler. In today’s climate, he would be laicized and cast off to his own support.
He was charged with abusing 4 boys in 1993. Prosecutors frequently trim off charges to get at the one they think will stick. I read of Fr MacRae’s situation, including on his blog. If he is innocent, of the crime for which he was convicted, and even all of the ones of which he was accused, it is an injustice. Especially if his bishop failed to support him, even despite his admission in 1988.
On the other hand, his situation has all the hallmarks of an abuser grooming allies. In a climate of lies, abuse, and cancel culture, who is to know for certain if he is telling the truth now? That said, his protests of innocence sound like many wrongfully convicted people of color. If his supporters are as vigorous in supporting people jailed for minor offenses at unjust lengths, then I think the witness is admirable. Even if Fr MacRae is guilty. Advocating for the imprisoned, even the guilty, is a work of mercy.
As for the corruption of the US justice system, lacking particular evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the courts, #2478 of the Catechism leads a good Catholic to a different presumption to the one touted here.
As a writer and researcher who has done a good deal of research on this case, I have found it especially frustrating that so many Catholics seem to expect the worst of their priests. Many would look upon a case like this and demand to see evidence of his innocence when there has never been any evidence of his guilt. It is also frustrating that so many in the Church assume that the only voice in defense of this priest’s innocence is that of the priest himself. It would be very helpful before writing a comment if the writer would go back through other comments in defense of MacRae instead of faVORING JUST the ones that condemn him. One article of mine, “A Reporter’s Bias Taints a Defense of Fr. Gordon MacRae,” linked among these comments thoroughly analyzed the question you raised about a previous case against him. It would be helpful to read it before asking the question again. It was not a previous charge. This priest was targeted by a corrupt detective in 1988 who coerced a misdemeanor plea from him without legal counsel after making a threat to destroy the Church. It was all on tape. The detective lied about the tape but it was later recovered by The Wall Street Journal. This detective continued the case until 1994 when he charged Fr.MacRae with several felonies after offering monetary bribes to accusers. This was also on tape and those tapes have disappeared. As to the rest of your comment, I have no idea of what you mean by pleas of innocence by people of color.
He admitted guilt in 1988. We know that people with sex addictions or compulsions or such have one of the longest and hardest roads back to sobriety. None of us are on a jury, and BishopsAccountability material is all public knowledge now. A jury would be obliged to ignore it.
If I were his friend, I would visit him in prison, but I don’t think I’d be contributing money for his legal defense. He had a defense in 1988 and 1993-94. Perhaps those people failed him.
Admittedly, I think badly of people who have confessed to a sexual crime against a minor. His priesthood isn’t relevant.
And as for people of color, we know they are abused, railroaded, handcuffed to poor lawyers, and sent to long prison terms compared to white people. If I were advocating for justice in the legal system, I think I’d start with black and brown people. It happens far more often for them than for priests.
As a person of color I too wonder what you meant by saying “his protests of innocence read like many wrongfully convicted people of color.” Fr. MacRae is not a person of color and neither are you! As a third-rate reporter, surely you are capable of writing the truth – sometimes. Shame the devil and tell us what you meant by that remark.
One telling aspect of Father MacRae’s case is that despite everything else, he has not been laicized. It makes me think that deep down, they all know he’s innocent. Todd Flowerday remarked, “In today’s climate, he would be laicized.” Well, if he’s guilty, they could still laicize him– the climate of the time he was sent to jail isn’t relevant. It could have been done at any time. And the real trouble today is that almost no one can be trusted– not lay people, priests, bishops, popes, journalists, prosecutors, judges, politicians, or even Internet commentators. Truth seems to be the consistent loser in all this. It’s all about agendas and not learning the truth. Daniel, where are you when we desperately need you?
And just to be clear: if Fr MacRae is exonerated, good for him and his supporters. I have no ill wishes for a person unjustly imprisoned. If he is innocent, 28 years is a long time for a campaign to bear fruit.
I’ve known a few convicted and a few innocent priests…
Just as I’ve known a few convicted & a few innocent doctors, coaches, teachers, counselors, pastors, parents/grandparents…
All need our prayers… All
Yup. It’s a shared human nature failing, and not something unique to clergy. But we hold the clergy to a higher standard.
This is a bombshell! Has anyone read the trial transcripts in this case? They are available at the National Center for Reason and Justice which has determined that Fr. MacRae is wrongly convicted. The testimony of 27 year old Thomas Grover is shocking. He said that he went to the priest for five weekly counseling sessions at age 16 for his drug problem. He said that at each session he was overpowered and sexually assaulted in an office overlooking downtown Main Street. He said that he returned week to week because he repressed all memory of the assaults until 11 years later. The judge ordered the jury to “disregard inconsistencies” in Mr. Grover’s testimony. The jury returned with the guilty verdict in 90 minutes. The only place where this story should ever have been seen as credible is the Jerry Springer show. There were three priests living in that rectory and nine lay employees. Not one of them ever saw Grover there.
https://medium.com/@claire_22581/are-sex-crimes-police-in-new-hampshire-sex-predators-and-pimps-292ab9fdce53
This trial and conviction has proved to me that it is too easy for mere bureaucrats to manipulate information to the detriment of civil liberties that until recently were considered sacred in our country. If it was true that Fr. MacRae admitted guilt under similar accusation previously then it does not follow that he is going to be automatically guilty of any accusation thereafter. Most particularly when the plaintiff (1) provides nothing but a flimsy story that no one can corroborate and (2) stands to get a juicy compensation as a result.
Didn’t we recoil in horror when the USSR condemned people whether a crime was committed or not? It is time for the US to realize that WE have grown this monster. Now we can say with certainty that NO ONE is a citizen: NO ONE.
There is another layer to this whole ugly story. Beginning in 1988, Father MacRae was targetted along with several other priests by a corrupt detective whose corruption has now been exposed. The detective would threaten horrific charges and never ending investigation unless the young priest accepted a minor plea deal without consulting legal counsel. Six years later the same detective came at the priest again. There is a lot of evidence about the detective’s misconduct, including briving accusers and threatening defense witnesses. A Church official from Father MacRae’s diocese seems to have been complicit in some of this, and he was later charged and convicted of extorsion and kickbacks. Before his death, the late Bishop John McCormack told others of his belief that Father MacRae was not guilty and should not be in prison. This whole chapter is laid out in this article by Ryan A. MacDonald:
https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/omerta-in-a-catholic-chancery-affidavits-expanded
I’m sorry, I gave the wrong author. This article was written by Father George David Byers, SSL, STD.
Either Macrae is guilty or he was the victim of a massive conspiracy involving a lot of people – New Hampshire’s Catholic hierarchy, priests, and law enforcement. Suppose Macrae is released soon. Should he sue the Church? It’s unlikely he will serve as a priest again in New Hampshire.