Priest admits abusing altar boy

A priest accused of repeatedly raping an altar boy at St. Jude's Church in Waltham in the 1980s pleaded guilty yesterday to four counts of raping a child.

The Rev. Robert V. Gale, 63, changed his plea from not guilty before Middlesex Superior Court Judge Charles Grabau at about 2 p.m. yesterday, just as jury selection was to begin in a trial on the charges, according to the Middlesex district attorney's office.

"I feel at peace," Gale told Grabau when asked if he was comfortable with his decision.

Gale will be sentencted at 11 a.m. today in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge. The victim, a 34-year-old South Shore man, is expected to make a statement prior to the sentencing. The Globe withholds the identities of sexual abuse victims unless they consent to being named.

Gale molested the victim, who was between 10 and 15 years old at the time, about twice a month between 1980 and 1985, prosecutors said. The victim was in the courtroom with his parents yesterday as Gale entered his plea. Gale faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall told the judge that if the case had gone to trial, prosecutors would have presented evidence that Gale, then an associate pastor at St. Jude's, performed oral sex on the boy and forced the boy to perform oral sex on him on numerous occasions between May 1980 and April 1985.

When questioned by the judge, Gale admitted he sexually abused the boy repeatedly.

Bonnie Gorman, a friend of the victim's family who was in court yesterday, said she sensed no remorse from Gale.

"I'm glad he feels at peace, because certainly his victims don't," Gorman said. "Hopefully, he thinks beyond his immediate needs and thinks about the needs of his victims. . . . I would like to see him go to prison forever."

Reached last night, Gale's attorney, Robert D. Lewin, declined to comment.

The Boston Archdiocese barred Gale, of Middleton, N.H., from parish ministry in 1991 after receiving numerous complaints of sexual abuse. Authorities launched the investigation into Gale's alleged misconduct after the victim came forward in early 2002, according to the district attorney's office.

Gale was indicted Aug. 27, 2002, and was arrested later that day in New Hampshire, where he and his sister own a home. He pleaded not guilty to the rape charges at his arraignment the next day.

Gale attempted to have the charges dropped by arguing that they were filed after a 15-year statute of limitations for rape had expired. A Middlesex Superior Court judge refused in May to throw out the rape charges, saying that a jury should decide whether Gale was indicted after the statute of limitations had expired.

According to Globe interviews with victims, and archdiocesan records that have been turned over to lawyers, Gale's sexual misconduct allegedly dates to when he was a seminarian in the mid-1960s: He was accused of molestation in parishes in Jamaica Plain and Quincy before landing at St. Jude's in the 1970s.

After serving at St. Jude's until 1987, he served at The Infant Jesus Parish in Brookline and St. Monica's Parish in South Boston.

"Most of his victims have not come forward," said Gorman, who said she is also aquainted with others whom Gale abused. "It was so unbelievably brave. They achieved a victory for all of Gale's victims, and we should all be very grateful because it's really putting a stop to his years of abuse. Hopefully, he will get the help he needs."

Gale is one of dozens of priests accused of molestation in thousands of pages of church documents made public last year. The Boston Archdiocese has spent more than $90 million to settle with alleged victims.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.