Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA · 2019

United States: Air Force chaplain and priest convicted of sexually abusing an altar boy at Kirtland Air Force Base

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Roman Catholic priest and U.S. Air Force chaplain, Kirtland Air Force Base, supervising priest of the victim as an altar server

Organization

U.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps, Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA

Spiritual nexus

Perrault held compound authority as both a Catholic priest and a commissioned Air Force chaplain (retired colonel), and the victim was his altar server — a child placed under his direct religious supervision at the base chapel community. The abuse occurred at Kirtland AFB, where he served as chaplain, and continued off-base on outings arranged through that pastoral role.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority
  • Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2019-09-15 · appeal denied

    U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico. jury convicted on 6 counts aggravated sexual abuse + 1 count abusive sexual contact; sentenced to 30 years; conviction affirmed on appeal

Appellate history

  1. 2021-04-22

    appeal denied, conviction affirmed

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • used altar-server role to create private access and outings with the victim
  • compound authority of military chaplain rank plus priestly office over a child of the base community

Primary record

Sources

Air Force Times (2019) 'Former Air Force chaplain, a retired colonel, found guilty of sex abuse in New Mexico', 12 April 2019.

Arthur Perrault, a retired Air Force Reserve colonel who served as an Air Force chaplain and Roman Catholic priest, was found guilty by a jury of six counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact with a minor under 12. The victim, an altar boy Perrault took on excursions to amusement parks and other places, said Perrault touched him inappropriately as many as 100 times starting when he was 10, with abuse occurring at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque — where Perrault served as chaplain — and at Santa Fe National Cemetery. The abuse ended in 1992, the year Perrault fled to Morocco; he was located and arrested there in 2017 and extradited to New Mexico following indictment.

Air Force Times (2019) 'Retired Air Force chaplain, a fugitive for 20 years, sentenced in Kirtland AFB sex abuse case', 15 September 2019.

U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez sentenced Perrault to 30 years in prison, stating it was the worst case of child sex abuse she had handled in 26 years on the bench.

Air Force Times (2021) 'Court denies former Kirtland Air Force Base priest's appeal in New Mexico abuse case', 22 April 2021.

Confirms the appellate court denied Perrault's appeal of his conviction, leaving the 2019 jury verdict and 30-year sentence in place.

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