Police are looking to speak with alumni who attended St. Francis Parochial School in Naugatuck in 1965.
Police said they are looking for information about a priest who used to work in Connecticut and was recently arrested outside of the state to see if anyone had any inappropriate contact with him while he was here.
Naugatuck police said there is no crime report here in Connecticut.
Federal agents said Former Catholic Priest Arthur Perrault fled the country amid child sex abuse allegations before his federal arrest in New Mexico last month.
Court papers state that Perrault was accused in 1991 and 1992 of showered victims with gifts and food before abusing them and later fleeing the country to Canada and Morocco.
In 1965, Father Perrault was briefly assigned to the St. Francis Parish in Naugatuck. Joyce Luzio graduated St. Francis prior to Perrault’s arrival in 1965.
“l remember Father Perrault. If he’s the same one you know, but we didn’t have a lot of dealings with him,” Luzio said.
Local
According to a letter from a clinical psychologist at a treatment facility Perrault was sent to in New Mexico in 1966 from Connecticut and obtained by NBC affiliate KOB, the chancery office in Hartford had been contacted.
“... Father Perrault came to the attention of his chancery office because of two alleged incidents of homosexual approaches to some of the young men with whom he was working. From our contacts with the Chancery Office I gather they are convinced that these two incidents did indeed take place.”
The letter goes on to recommend Perrault be considered for permanent assignment at the high school or college level to the Diocese of Santa Fe, adding “we ask that we not condemn him for something which is a normal product of a slightly abnormal situation.”
KOB sued the diocese for Perrault’s records and won. Other documents obtained by KOB indicate Perrault was ordained in Hartford in May of 1964, before he served briefly at the Blessed Sacrament in East Hartford and St. Joseph in New Haven on Yale’s Campus.
Naugatuck police said at this time this is not a criminal investigation but an exploratory mission. Authorities would like to speak with anyone who can “recollect what the atmosphere and the culture of student life was like during this time frame.”
NBC Connecticut reached out to the Archdiocese of Hartford but has not heard back.
Anyone with information should contact Detective Sergeant Mark Pettinicchi at 203-720-2590 with any information.
