Father Gerard Boisvert – Diocese of Fall River

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
1940 Ordained
1941-1955 St. Anthony of Padua's (French), New Bedford, MA
1956-1962 Notre Dame de Lourdes (French), Fall River, MA
1963-1967 St. Anthony of Padua's (French), New Bedford, MA
  Died July 2, 1967
Source:
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

(The years listed above are the publication years of the Official Catholic Directory. According to the Directory, the assignments provided for a given year are effective as of January 1 of that year. This means that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year at a parish or school was likely at the same assignment for at least part of the previous year as well.)

Summary:
  • Father Gerard Boisvert was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least 40 occasions from approximately 1963 when the boy was approximately eleven years old until approximately 1965 when the boy was approximately thirteen years old. During the sexual abuse, Father Boisvert was assigned to St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Bedford, MA, and the boy belonged to the parish. The sexual abuse took place inside the sacristy of St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Bedford, MA, and inside the sacristy of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in New Bedford, MA.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Boisvert included the following: Father Boisvert fondling the boy’s penis and testicles, both over the clothes and skin on skin; Father Boisvert forcing the boy to masturbate Father Boisvert’s penis; Father Boisvert rubbing his penis against the boy’s face; and Father Boisvert sodomizing the boy.
  • The claim settled in 2023 in the mid-five figures.