Search instead in Creative? But the answer was delayed until Morrissey's call late Friday, in which she said she would not even accept questions in writing. Geoghan's sister hits guards, September 27 On September 18, 1984, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, the new Archbishop of Boston, removed Geoghan from the parish after complaints that he was molesting children. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [5] While Geoghan was assigned to Blessed Sacrament, Anthony Benzevich allegedly told church officials that the junior priest was observed bringing boys into his bedroom. 'to shift a problem', In his own defense last summer, Law wrote in the Pilot, the archdiocesan newspaper, "Never was there an effort on my part to shift a problem from one place to the next. She testified that Miceli assured her that Geoghan would be handled by appropriate church authorities and would "never be a priest again." He wasnt all that familiar with the neighborhood in 2001, having lived there for only a few years. [4][3] That December, he successfully talked a man out of committing suicide from jumping off the Mystic River Bridge. One example: When Law was named a defendant in 25 of the lawsuits, Rogers asked a judge to impound any reference to the cardinal, arguing that his reputation might be harmed. image10off = new Image(); The last person to live there before Loney bought the place was Geoghans sister, Catherine Geoghan, who died about a year ago after being sick for some time, he said. image4on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/victims_on.gif"; 12/14/84 Dr. [John H.] Brennan: "no psychiatric contraindications or restrictions to his work as a parish priest.". image9on = new Image(); image2off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/predator_off.gif"; image13off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/archives_off.gif"; 12/14/84 Dr. [John H.] Brennan: "no psychiatric contraindications or restrictions to his work as a parish priest." . After two more years and more allegations of sexual abuse, Geoghan's tenure at St. Brendan's came to an abrupt end in 1984, when Lane heard complaints that Geoghan had molested children in the parish. image8off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/church_response_off.gif"; The archdiocese has recently settled claims on accusations that he did, and the church records obtained by the Globe note that Geoghan in 1995 admitted molesting four boys from the same family then. So the archdiocese has moved aggressively to keep information about its supervision of Geoghan out of public view. If Mueller had unwittingly facilitated Geoghans access to the children in her home in Melrose, the same role was played by Maryetta Dussourd at the priests next stop: St. Andrews, in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, where he served from 1974 to 1980. In 1983, Father Geoghan and his sister bought the houses from their mother and uncle for less than $100 . Lane, the teacher said, was so devastated that he broke down when he told her the news. ", A copy of the letter contains a redacted paragraph, an apparent reference to the Rev. Wilson D. Rogers Jr., the cardinals attorney, defended the move last summer, saying the archdiocese had medical assurances that each Geoghan reassignment was appropriate and safe.. One was just 4 years old. And now, as the plaintiff in one of the lawsuits against Geoghan, McSorley is bitter. Nonetheless, Miceli said he drove to Geoghan's new parish in Jamaica Plain to relay the woman's concerns to Geoghan face-to-face. Boston's Suffolk County prosecuted Geoghan in two other sexual abuse cases. On Dec. 17, Rogers sent the Globe's attorney, Jonathan M. Albano, a letter threatening to seek legal sanctions against the newspaper and its law firm if the Globe published anything gleaned from confidential records in the suits. Dussourd was rearing her own four children - three boys and a girl - as well as her nieces four boys. The St. Brendans teacher, who declined to be named, said that at first, Geoghans willingness to spend inordinate amounts of time with children was admired. image8on = new Image(); Geoghan `admits the activity but does not feel it serious or a pastoral problem. . In her hardscrabble neighborhood, she said in an interview, she hoped there was a priest the children could look up to. Two months later, the cardinal gave Geoghan a fresh start at St. Julias. He lived in Guernsey and Belfast. One example: When Law was named a defendant in 25 of the lawsuits, Rogers asked a judge to impound any reference to the cardinal, arguing that his reputation might be harmed. There is no dispute that Geoghan abused children while he was at Blessed Sacrament in Saugus after his 1962 ordination. "I felt a little funny about it," McSorley recalled in an interview. //-->, If you have information on child abuse by priests, call. image1on = new Image(); Im aware of some history, but the world has a history. The boy -- now a college student -- testified that Geoghan reached under his swimming. Former Catholic priest John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison while serving time on child sex abuse charges. } else { The civil and criminal allegations Geoghan faces in Middlesex and Suffolk counties suggest that he allegedly abused at least 30 more boys after Law sent him to Weston in 1984 - both before and after the half years sick leave in 1989. [3], Geoghan was assigned to St. Bernard's Parish in Concord starting on September 22, 1966. No American diocese has faced a scandal of similar dimensions since 1992. In 1989, he was forced to go on sick leave after more complaints of sexual abuse, and spent months in two institutions that treat sexually abusive priests. Riding home after getting ice cream, McSorley says, Geoghan consoled him. [3], Law assigned Geoghan to St. Julia's Parish in Weston on November 13, 1984. Retired 2000. In a recent interview with the Globe, Benzevich said he does indeed remember Geoghan taking boys to his room. John E. Thomas, the pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas, a nearby parish, according to court documents and accounts by Dussourd and a church official who asked that he not be identified. Law allowed Geoghan to stay in Weston for more than eight years before removing him from parish duty in 1993. . Mueller recalled the boy saying. /* E-commerce Variables */ ." But that has changed, as predicted in a 1985 confidential report on priest abuse prepared at the urging of some of the nation's top bishops, Law among them. Thomas confronted Geoghan with the allegations, and was taken aback when Geoghan casually admitted they were accurate. Almost immediately, Geoghan was working with First Communicants, befriending young children and their parents, even taking some boys to his family's summer home in Scituate, where - parents say they later discovered - he sexually abused the youths. Miceli testified that the caller said nothing about sexual abuse. On October 23, 1991, the church received a complaint about Geoghan "proselytizing" with a boy at a pool. MacLeish declined to provide any information about the family, and said a legal claim has yet to be filed over the son's treatment by Geoghan. Sipe, a psychotherapist and expert in clergy sexual abuse, said he has long believed that the Catholic Church has been too slow to deal with priests who molest children. Now, as Geoghan faces the first of two criminal trials next week, details about his sexual compulsion are likely to be overshadowed by a question that many Catholics find even more troubling: Why did it take a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children out of Geoghan's reach? Before his deposition, Benzevich said, Wilson Rogers 3d approached him, told him the church was trying to protect him from being named as a defendant, and offered to represent him. Remaining charges of indecent assault in that case were still pending prosecution. if (document.images) { image11on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/2002_scandal_on.gif"; Druce pleads not guilty in slay Three years later, after more allegations surfaced against him, he spent several months in therapy in the Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada. } Francis H. Delaney, who was Geoghan's pastor at St. Andrew's, said in an interview that church officials never told him why Geoghan disappeared from the parish. In November, acting on a motion by the Globe, Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney ordered those documents made public. Druce said that he had twice before confronted Geoghan about his molestation charges, and described Geoghan's responses as "arrogant." Of the priests, few would speak publicly. image4on = new Image(); var myindex=form.dest.selectedIndex ; On February 9, 1980, John E. Thomas told Bishop Thomas Vose Daily that Geoghan admitted to molesting seven boys. And one pastor hung up the phone and another slammed a door shut at the first mention of Geoghan's name. The Spotlight Team found evidence that one of Law's top subordinates worried that Geoghan would cause further scandal at St. Julia's in Weston, where he began work on Nov. 13, 1984. The Rev. Benzevich told his story to Mitchell Garabedian, who represents nearly all of the plaintiffs in the civil suits against Geoghan and church officials, according to an affidavit Garabedian filed. [21] It was "commonly believed that he would live out his retirement in Rome" after he retired at age 80 in 2011. None of the bishops would comment. Benzevich would later deny this allegation. Im not exactly sure what the script said, Carroll said. The official said Daily drove to Jamaica Plain and said Mass. But over time, some parishioners became suspicious. For all the years that Geoghan was molesting children, clergymen were exempt from laws requiring most other caregivers to report incidents of sex abuse to police for possible prosecution. Despite his record, Geoghan was assigned to St. Julia's. But then he patted his upper leg and slid his hand up toward his crotch. There is no dispute that Geoghan abused children while he was at Blessed Sacrament in Saugus after his 1962 ordination. Inquiry: Druce beaten as child, September 20 Now, as Geoghan faces the first of two criminal trials next week, details about his sexual compulsion are likely to be overshadowed by a question that many Catholics find even more troubling: Why did it take a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children out of Geoghans reach? The. But Church records note that Rossiter was aware of Geoghan's history. I dont believe in ghosts, Loney said when asked about the houses previous inhabitant. image2on = new Image(); In addition, they had been warned by an inmate that Druce intended to attack Geoghan. And he had been removed from at least two parishes for sexual abuse. //-->