MONTREAL – A former Montreal priest allegedly viewed suspected child pornography on public transit while serving his sentence for sexually assaulting two boys, says the Parole Board of Canada in a recent decision.
The board revoked 64-year-old Brian Boucher’s statutory release last week, concluding a series of incidents and new child pornography charges showed a return to what it called his “crime cycle.’’
Boucher is serving an eight-year sentence for sexually abusing two boys he met through his work as a priest. He had been living at a Montreal community correctional centre since his statutory release in July 2024.
According to the board’s decision, authorities received a tip in April 2026 that Boucher had been seen viewing pornographic material, possibly child sexual abuse material, on public transit.
Boucher was arrested April 9 and charged in August with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse material. He has denied viewing pornography on public transit and told correctional officials he was shocked by his arrest because he believed his reintegration was ’‘going well.’’
The decision also describes earlier concerns about Boucher’s compliance with a special condition prohibiting direct or indirect contact with his victims.
The board said correctional officials received information that Boucher was ’‘repeatedly in the presence of family members of one of the victims’’ while attending mass at a church in May and June 2025. It said he made ’‘direct eye contact with at least one family member’’ and wandered through common areas despite directives from his case management team.
In late 2025, the Parole Board modified Boucher’s release conditions to order him to stay away from sections of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace and Town of Mount-Royal boroughs of Montreal.
When confronted, the board said Boucher denied the allegations and offered inconsistent explanations. He also acknowledged disobeying instructions governing his attendance at mass “on at least one occasion.’’
The board said Boucher continues to deny the offences for which he was convicted and has shown little progress despite completing several programs for sex offenders.
“You appear impermeable to intervention, failing to recognize a problem of sexual offending, and showing an ongoing lack of remorse or victim empathy,” the board wrote.
Boucher is eligible for statutory release before the end of his sentence, as required by law, but will face stricter conditions, the board said in its decision.
He will be required to live at an approved residential facility without leave privileges and will be prohibited from accessing pornography, contacting minors except under limited approved circumstances, or going to places where children are likely to gather.
He will also be limited to one mobile device or SIM card unless authorized and must allow his parole supervisor to inspect his phone, including messages, photos, emails, social media, and browser history.
The board also imposed geographic restrictions in parts of Montreal to prevent Boucher from encountering his victims or their families.
The case will return to court on Nov. 23.
Boucher worked in 10 Montreal-area churches between 1985 and 2015. He was formally stripped of his priesthood in 2020.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2026.
— with files from Morgan Lowrie in Montreal
