A West Island Catholic priest pleaded guilty to sexual assault on the opening day of his second trial at Palais de Justice. 

Brian Boucher, 57, is accused of committing a number of assaults over 20 years as he made his way through half a dozen churches throughout Montreal and its suburbs.

Boucher worked in Senneville, LaSalle, Dorval, Town of Mount Royal, and Montreal between 1985 and 2015.

He was convicted two weeks ago for sexually exploiting an alter boy at Our Lady of the Annunciation parish in Town of Mount Royal. 

The verdict came after court testimony from a 23-year-old man who said he suffered years of abuse and sexual assault by Boucher, starting when he was a 12-year-old devout Catholic altar boy.

At the time, the judge said Boucher's defence was not credible and found him guilty.

Boucher's second trial concerns two more boys who were assaulted at the St-John-Brebeuf parish in Lasalle. 

Police investigated Boucher with the cooperation of the Montreal Archdiocese for nearly two years before he was arrested in March 2017.

The Montreal archdiocese said it had stripped Boucher of all his responsibilities during the trial.

Sentencing arguments will begin in March.