[2] Publicly available records from the 1980s raise serious questions about Plourde's accountability and knowledge of widespread sexual abuse of children by several priests within the Ottawa diocese throughout the 1970s and early 1980s: all occurring under his tenure as archbishop.
[5] Newspaper reports from 1986 note that parents of the abuse victims "approached police in March of that year after becoming frustrated by the inaction of Archbishop Plourde and Bishop Beahan.
"[6][4] In June 1986, Plourde was quoted on the record blaming the media, parishioners and the victims' families for having come forward with allegations that ultimately led to the criminal conviction of Dale Crampton, among other priests within his diocese.
"[5] New allegations surfaced in May 2016, when retired Catholic priest Barry McGrory publicly admitted that he sexually abused three young parishioners at Ottawa’s Holy Cross Parish in the 1970s and ’80s.
Also in 2016--more than 35 years after these criminal acts took place--the Ottawa archdiocese and its current archbishop publicly acknowledged "the enormity of evil" in connection to these cases, but remained mute on Plourde's knowledge of the abuses that occurred under his watch.