Father Sylvio Ruest – Archdiocese of Boston

Partial Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1942 Ordained in the Archdiocese of Boston
1951 – 1953 Christ the King Church, Hudson, MA
1954 St. Louis Church, Lowell, MA
1955 St. Ann’s Church, Salem, MA
1956 “Absent on Sick Leave”
1957 St. Ann’s Church, Salem, MA
1958 – 1964 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Bellingham, MA
1965 – 1969 "Absent on Sick Leave”; During this period, Father Ruest was indexed as living at 1835 Franklin Street, Denver, Colorado
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 Ruest died in 1969.
  • Father Sylvio Ruest was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on at least five occasions from approximately 1957 to 1958 when the male child was approximately thirteen to fourteen years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Ruest was assigned to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Bellingham, Massachusetts, and the male child was a parishioner at the church. The sexual abuse took place inside the church and in the nearby rectory affiliated with the church.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Ruest included the following: Father Ruest exposed Father Ruest’s penis to the boy and forced the boy to fondle Father Ruest’s penis, skin-on-skin.
  • The claim settled in February 2020 in the high five figures.