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QUESTION: even former altar boys who claim a priest abused them, including
one who said the abuse led him to attempt suicide, sued the priest, his
supervisor and the archdiocese on Monday.
The lawsuit is the third filed in the past week against retired Roman
Catholic priest Paul Desilets, 78, who was assigned to Assumption Parish in
Bellingham from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
The latest suit brings to 13 the number of former Assumption altar boys who
have sued Desilets, who now lives in a retirement home in Quebec, Canada.
Desilets did not immediately return a message left on the home's answering
machine.
Unlike the two previous suits filed against Desilets, the plaintiffs in the
latest suit did not use their real names. Four still live in Bellingham, two
live in Blackstone, and one lives in Woonsocket, R.I.
"The first six who came forward chose to use their names," lawyer Jeffrey
Newman said. "Those who have come forward since decided for privacy purposes
not to reveal their real names."
All of the latest seven are in their early to mid-30s now, and none of them
are brothers, Newman said. Two sets of brothers were plaintiffs in the
earlier suits.
The latest suit names Desilets, the archdiocese, and the Rev. Charles Aubut,
Assumption's then pastor and Desilets' immediate supervisor.
The suit claims the archdiocese and Aubut knew or should have known Desilets
touched the children on the genitals and buttocks "on scores of occasions"
but did nothing to stop it.
Archdiocese of Boston spokeswoman Kerry Murphy said Monday the archdiocese
does not comment on pending litigation.
Aubut, 87, who lives in the D'Youville Senior Care Center in Lowell, has
Alzheimer's disease and could not comment, according to a nursing home
employee who would not give her name.
Also on Monday, Worcester Diocese Bishop Daniel P. Reilly announced a
no-tolerance policy for abuse that will require priests, church workers and
volunteers to report incidents of suspected child abuse to the state.
The new policy was welcomed by District Attorney John J. Conte, who
cautioned that the names of alleged victims must also be turned over to
authorities.
"Identifying the perpetrators without identifying their victims does little
to aid in the prosecution of past crimes," he said.
The Roman Catholic church in Massachusetts has come under increasing
scrutiny since the Jan. 18 conviction of defrocked priest John J. Geoghan,
who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for indecent assault and battery on
a 10-year-old boy.
Cardinal Bernard Law announced a "zero tolerance" policy that resulted in
the names of more than 80 active and former priests suspected of abuse
during the last 40 years being turned over to prosecutors.
ANSWER: Why do you need to repeat your news clippings over and over again.......?
Your failing as a wanna be cub-reporter as usual...
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