Former Oakland County Priest Pleads Guilty In Sex Abuse Cases, Sentenced Up To 15 Years

(CBS DETROIT) - A former Oakland County priest will serve over a year in prison after pleading guilty to sex abuse, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.

On Thursday, Jan. 20, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Daniel P. O'Brien sentenced Gary Berthiaume, 79, to between 17 months and 15 years on the second-degree CSC counts and between 17 months and five years on the gross indecency count.

In addition to his sentence, Berthiaume must register as a tier II sex offender and undergo counseling.

The original case against him was in Sept. 2020. Then, in June 2021, Berthiaume was charged with additional felonies in two new cases.

Berthiaume was sent to trial in July 2021 on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Officials said in November 2021, Berthiaume pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree CSC and no contest to one count of gross indecency.

The cases against Berthiaume come from allegations of abuse in the 1970s that involved three victims who were between the ages of 13 and 15 years old at the time of the abuse.

He was a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wyandotte and later Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington during that timeframe.

To learn more about Nessel's ongoing clergy abuse investigation or to submit information that may assist the clergy abuse investigative team, visit the Attorney General's website.

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