When a Globe reporter went to see him recently, he slammed the door shut as soon as Geoghans name was mentioned. The investigation and prosecution of Geoghan were one of . Gary E. Balcom. The judge refused. image2on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/predator_on.gif";
When Geoghan dropped a shaken McSorley off at his mother's house, he suggested they keep secret what had taken place. In Geoghans case, the church defied its own most basic values of protecting the young and fostering celibacy, said A.W. ", The cardinal's assertion followed his disclosure, in court documents, that he was informed in September 1984 of the four-year-old allegations that Geoghan had molested the seven Jamaica Plain boys. So the archdiocese has moved aggressively to keep information about its supervision of Geoghan out of public view. WORCESTER, Mass., Jan. 23 - The prisoner who strangled the child-molesting priest John J. Geoghan behind bars testified Monday that he had resolved to kill him after Mr. Geoghan arrogantly. Abusive priests - Geoghan among them - often instructed traumatized youngsters to say nothing about what had been done to them. In February 1981, he was sent to his fifth parish, St. Brendan's. image7on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/laity_on.gif";
He said, `Were very good at keeping secrets, McSorley said. Meet the real journalists behind the movie Spotlight, http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/v1/unsecured/media/245991542/201510/1659/245991542_4587867166001_Actual-Reports.mp4?pubId=245991542&videoId=4586271434001.
Horrified, Dussourd complained to the Rev. I froze up, McSorley said. But all that time, Geoghan regularly molested the seven boys in their bedrooms, Dussourd said. The Globe could find no evidence that Law accepted that advice. 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. The records note that the next month, "Another letter from Mrs. Gallant. But Geoghan betrayed their trust and took advantage of their devotion and friendship, Sacco said. In news reports after accusations against Geoghan surfaced publicly, Benzevich was also quoted as saying church officials threatened to reassign him as a missionary in South America for telling them about Geoghan. He fell from a priest's house wi dow and nearly died. 3 He graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1952 and entered O'Connell Seminary. image7off = new Image();
Former Catholic priest John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison while serving time on child sex abuse charges. "I don't want him doing that to my wee-wee, touching my wee-wee . Geoghan's sister hits guards, September 27
So DArcy expressed concern about further scandal in this parish. If something happens, parishioners will feel that the archdiocese simply sends them priests with problems.. But even that decision to recast Geoghan as a functionary at a home for retired priests did not prevent him from seeking out and molesting children, according to the multiple civil suits and criminal charges filed against the 66-year-old Geoghan. Go home. The official said Daily drove to Jamaica Plain and said Mass. What would it take to turn more offices into housing?
Before Geoghan ever got to Weston in 1984, he had already been treated several times and hospitalized at least once for molesting boys. He `would touch them while they were sleeping and waken them by playing with their penises. . On April 28, 1989, auxiliary bishop Robert Joseph Banks ordered Geoghan to leave the ministry. function leapto(form) {
The 2015 film Spotlight begins on an evening in 1976 at a Boston Police station, where two policemen are discussing the arrest of Fr. 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. In Thomass presence that Saturday afternoon, Feb. 9, 1980, Daily telephoned Geoghan at St. Andrews and, in a brief conversation, delivered a curt directive: Go home, the official said. image9on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/clergy_on.gif";
He cited the years Geoghan had spent studying for the priesthood, and the consequences for Geoghan if the accusations against him were publicized. One boy he allegedly molested is the son of a man who had been among the many sexually abused by Porter during the 1960s in the Fall River Diocese, according to Roderick MacLeish Jr., the attorney who represented the man and 100 other Porter victims.
I didnt know what to think. //-->
One of Geoghan's closest associates on the unit in Concord was Lewis S. Lent Jr., who is serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of 12-year-old Jimmy Bernardo of Pittsfield. ", A copy of the letter contains a redacted paragraph, an apparent reference to the Rev. Its irrelevant because of the real estate. A 1994 archdiocesan document summarizing Geoghan's recurrent problems says of the seven children: "Fr. That included his assertion in 1980 that his repeated abuse of seven boys in one extended family was not a "serious" problem, according to an archdiocesan record. Also, Mueller said, Geoghan was insisting they tell no one. "The perfect substitute father," Geoghan said of his uncle, who would dress his young nephew in the vestments of a priest for festive neighborhood parades at the family's summer home in Scituate . There is no dispute that Geoghan abused children while he was at Blessed Sacrament in Saugus after his 1962 ordination. But he repeated his sworn assertion that he does not recall notifying his superiors. image14off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/documents_off.gif";
But he repeated his sworn assertion that he does not recall notifying his superiors. Law denies he tried
On February 9, 1980, John E. Thomas told Bishop Thomas Vose Daily that Geoghan admitted to molesting seven boys. Lawyer: Mail deluges accused, September 11
When a Globe reporter went to see him recently, he slammed the door shut as soon as Geoghan's name was mentioned. Garabedian, citing the confidentiality order, refused to discuss the Benzevich issue with the Globe. Even Massachusetts law assured secrecy - and still does. Richard Sipe, a former priest. Geoghan's free rein was made possible because the archdiocese said nothing to Lane, St. Brendan's pastor, about Geoghan's history, according to a teacher in the parish whom Lane has confided in. [8] He was prosecuted in Cambridge for charges of molestation that took place in 1991. Oh, st, Carroll says in the movie. So D'Arcy expressed concern about "further scandal in this parish." Its a beautiful home, a beautiful property.. In 1982 the family of seven of Geoghan's victims complained to Bishop Daily that Geoghan had arranged to meet one of his victims at an ice cream shop in Jamaica Plain and was at the time in the company of another boy. Letter: Druce abused as a boy, September 12
That included his assertion in 1980 that his repeated abuse of seven boys in one extended family was not a serious problem, according to an archdiocesan record. She testified that Miceli assured her that Geoghan would be handled by appropriate church authorities and would "never be a priest again." For decades, within the US Catholic Church, sexual misbehavior by priests was shrouded in secrecy - at every level. Aware of Geoghan record, archdiocese still shuttled him from parish to parish. ". The five, all since promoted to head their own dioceses, are Bishops Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Robert J. var s_pageName="News | Special reports | Priest sex abuse | Globe story archives (all)";
The second, more serious set of charges are due to be tried in Suffolk Superior Court in late February. var s_channel="News";
The priest offered to buy Patrick ice cream. Law allowed Geoghan to stay in Weston for more than eight years before removing him from parish duty in 1993. Father Lane was almost destroyed by this, the teacher said. While there, he allegedly raped and fondled a boy. Burial will be in Resurrection . For years, McSorley has battled alcoholism and depression. Members of the Boston Globes Spotlight speak out about breaking the church abuse scandal story. Miceli disputes her account. Around 1968, a man complained to church authorities that he had caught Geoghan molesting his son. Nicholas Driscoll, who confirmed last week that he had been removed from St. Julia's before Geoghan's arrival - but for alcohol and depression problems, not sexual abuse. That year, in the Fall River Diocese, more than 100 of former priest James Porter's victims surfaced publicly with evidence that Porter's superiors - including, in the 1960s, then Monsignor Medeiros - shifted him from one parish to another as parents learned of his compulsive abuse. John Geoghan for child molestation. Archdiocesan records obtained by the Globe make it clear why Gallant wrote her irate letter two years after the abuse: Geoghan had reappeared in Jamaica Plain, and been seen with a young boy. Mueller has said that she informed Paul E. Miceli and he asked her to keep quiet. Geoghan's second assignment - in 1966 to St. Bernard's in Concord - ended after seven months, according to a detailed chronology of Geoghan's service prepared by the church which does not explain why the assignment was so abbreviated. MacLeish, who has had substantial dealings with the Boston Archdiocese, said he remains astonished at Rogers's assertion that Geoghan's assignments were deemed safe by doctors. }
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? Of the priests, few would speak publicly. if (document.images) {
"I felt a little funny about it," McSorley recalled in an interview. . [4][3] That December, he successfully talked a man out of committing suicide from jumping off the Mystic River Bridge. Geoghan bore guards' abuse
by Denise Noe. [9], After initially agreeing to a $30 million settlement with 86 of Geoghan's victims, the Boston archdiocese pulled out of it, finally settling with them for $10 million.[10]. "I froze up," McSorley said. He warned that he would seek court-imposed sanctions even if Globe reporters asked questions of clergy involved in the case. Why is nothing being done?, RELATED: More coverage of the Spotlight report. /* E-commerce Variables */
One boy he allegedly molested is the son of a man who had been among the many sexually abused by Porter during the 1960s in the Fall River Diocese, according to Roderick MacLeish Jr., the attorney who represented the man and 100 other Porter victims. The Scituate house, a seven-room home at 64 Oceanside Drive with sweeping views of the Atlantic, is assessed at $268,500. Brian M. Flatley to File, July 11, 1996.