On September 23, 1994, Catholic priest Gordon J. MacRae was convicted by a jury of five counts of sexual assault in Cheshire County Superior Court, Keene, New Hampshire. The charges of sexual assault of a 15-year-old were alleged to have occurred between 1979 and 1983. Despite no evidence of guilt, and much suppressed evidence of fraud, the jury reached a verdict in 90 minutes.

The accuser at trial, 27-year-old Thomas Grover, testified that he came to Father MacRae for counseling for his drug addiction at age 15, was raped in the priest’s office, then repressed the memory of the assault returning from week to week unable to remember that he had been assaulted in the weeks before. Judge Arthur Brennan instructed the jury to “disregard inconsistencies in Thomas Grover's testimony.” The judge also kept from the jury Thomas Grover’s criminal convictions for fraud, forgery, theft, assault, and drug charges.

Twice before trial, and once during trial, Father MacRae was offered plea deals to serve a one-year sentence if he would plead guilty. Maintaining his innocence, he refused these “deals.” Despite these lenient offers, Judge Arthur Brennan ultimately sentenced the priest to 67 years in prison. MacRae spent 23 years in punitive prison housing because he would not admit guilt. After more than a quarter century behind bars Father MacRae — who has not been dismissed from the priesthood — continues to maintain his innocence.

Before this trial, Father MacRae’s bishop and diocese issued a press release stating, “The Church has been a victim of the actions of Gordon MacRae just as the accusers.” Despite much evidence of fraud, accuser Thomas Grover received a $200,000 settlement from the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire.

FBI Special Agent Supervisor James Abbott (Ret.) investigated this case. He wrote in his post-trial affidavit: “In my three years of investigation of this case, I have found no evidence that MacRae committed these crimes, or any crimes.”

In the years since this trial, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dorothy Rabinowitz published a three-part investigative series on the Father Gordon MacRae case for the Wall Street Journal.

In 2005 Father MacRae was invited to write articles from prison for the Catholic League journal, Catalyst. Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote to the imprisoned priest:

In 2008, First Things Editor, Father Richard John Neuhaus published “A Kafkaesque Tale” in which he wrote that this story “reflects a Church and a justice system that seem indifferent to justice.”

Father Gordon MacRae began writing from prison for Beyond These Stone Walls in 2009. His writing has been cited in “The Best of the Catholic Web” in the area of Spirituality by readers of Our Sunday Visitor. The New York Times media site, “About.com” awarded it second place finalist in the “Best Catholic Blog” category. Followers of the Fisher’s Net Awards voted it “Best Catholic Social Justice Site.”

Father Gordon MacRae and Beyond These Stone Walls have been featured five times in The Wall Street Journal, and in The Catholic World Report, National Catholic Register, Our Sunday Visitor, Catalyst: Journal of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, The American Conservative with Rod Dreher, and on NBC Today, the Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio, The World Over at EWTN, Gloria TV and Catholic Connections with Teresa Tomeo.

Beyond These Stone Walls has been a feature of several published books including Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories by David F. Pierre, Jr.; Loved, Lost, Found: 17 Divine Mercy Conversions by Felix Carroll; and Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast by James Valladares, Ph.D. who concluded: “Beyond These Stone Walls has been the finest example of priestly witness the last decades of scandal have produced.”