YOUNGSTOWN — The Rev. Denis G. Bouchard, former pastor of Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish on Scoville Drive in Vienna, testified Wednesday as the final witness in a defamation trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The trial was the result of the lawsuit Bouchard filed against Matthew Sieracki of Chardon and his mother over allegations made by Sieracki that Bouchard engaged in inappropriate behavior. Sieracki was a minor altar server at the church at the time of the alleged misconduct, a pretrial statement filed by Sieracki’s attorney in the case states.

The jury will return today to begin deliberations.

Bouchard sued Sieracki in 2019, claiming that Sieracki and his mother, Catherine Sieracki of Rome, Ohio, “defamed (Bouchard’s) reputation and character by false written and oral communications to third parties.” The lawsuit also named the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown as a defendant, but Bouchard dismissed the diocese from the lawsuit March 25 without prejudice, according to court records. That means the claim against the diocese can be refiled.

Sieracki also filed a counterclaim against Bouchard alleging assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Testimony in the trial started Tuesday and continued Wednesday.

Bouchard testified Wednesday that after the diocese placed him on administrative leave from active ministry in November 2018, he was never returned to active ministry. One of the things Bouchard sought in his lawsuit was “full reinstatement into the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown,” according to Tribune Chronicle files.

During Bouchard’s testimony, he read a letter from the diocese to the members of Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish dated Nov. 10, 2018. It explained that Bouchard was absent from the parish as a result of “an allegation of inappropriate behavior against Bouchard.”

The letter stated the diocese was going to conduct a full investigation to determine the allegation’s credibility and that Bouchard had been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.

Under questioning by his own attorney, Craig Pelini, Bouchard testified that Bob Kroner, a former FBI agent, investigated Sieracki’s allegations. Bouchard said Kroner questioned him.

“Is it your understanding … that Mr. Kroner found those allegations unsubstantiated and not credible?” Pelini asked.

“That’s correct,” Father Bouchard said.

When Pelini asked if Bouchard would still be able to “do priestly things” if he were to be restored with the diocese and was able to retire, Bouchard said yes.

“Such as?” Pelini asked.

“The sacraments, baptisms, marriages, saying public masses, confessions” and other things, Bouchard said. “There are a lot of things that a priest would be able to do whether he was retirement-age or not,” Bouchard said.

“And are those things important to you?” Pelini asked.

“Yes they are,” he said.

Under questioning by Konrad Kircher, Sieracki’s attorney, Bouchard agreed that an allegation of misconduct by him involving another alleged victim is still active.

A pretrial statement of the case filed by Kircher just before the trial started states that Sieracki confided in his sister in 2018 that Bouchard “engaged in certain conduct with (Sieracki) which made (Sieracki) uncomfortable.” His sister told their mother, and their mother told the diocese.

At the same time as the complaint from Sieracki’s mother, “the diocese had received complaints about (Bouchard’s) performance as a pastor,” the pretrial statement says. “In particular parishioners were unhappy that ( Bouchard) seemed obsessed with sexual matters and had published content in church bulletins about explicit sexual matters.”

The pretrial statement from Pelini stated that “the damages to Fr. Bouchard’s reputation is based on the worst type of allegation that could be made against an individual, especially when untrue.”

Bouchard filed the lawsuit because the 2018 allegation “has been incredibly disturbing to Fr. Bouchard and was so damaging to his reputation that he needed to clear his name,” Pelini stated.

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