[3], Over a 30-year career in six parishes, Geoghan was accused of sexual abuse involving more than 130 boys. Thomas, echoing a tack common among clerics at the time, later pleaded with Dussourd not to follow through on her threat to go public, she said. [3], In 1986 new allegations of sexual abuse were made against Geoghan. Former Catholic priest John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison while serving time on child sex abuse charges. Geoghan's first trial on sexual molestation charges is scheduled for Jan. 14 in Middlesex Superior Court. 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. Seeking hands-on care near North Scituate for my father in his 70s. In her hardscrabble neighborhood, she said in an interview, she hoped there was a priest the children could look up to. Plaintiffs in the 84 pending lawsuits are refusing to settle their claims as easily, and the church's internal documents are subject to being revealed in the litigation. I was petrified." [3], Law assigned Geoghan to St. Julia's Parish in Weston on November 13, 1984. And he had been removed from at least two parishes for sexual abuse. The legal response by the cardinal, narrowly drawn in response to the lawsuit against him, omits any reference to Geoghan's molestation of children at St. Brendan's in Dorchester. On February 13, 1962, Geoghan was assigned as an assistant pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Saugus, Massachusetts. image2on = new Image(); He was 68-years-old. Members of the Boston Globes Spotlight speak out about breaking the church abuse scandal story. Geoghans second assignment - in 1966 to St. Bernards in Concord - ended after seven months, according to a detailed chronology of Geoghans service prepared by the church which does not explain why the assignment was so abbreviated. Law and the five bishops have all denied the accusations in legal filings. I pulled out a paper map, Carroll said. We couldnt tell you because Father said it was a confessional, she said one of her sons told her. CNN's Michael Okwu reports. Geoghan protested, saying there was no one else to celebrate the 4 p.m. Mass. When Geoghan dropped a shaken McSorley off at his mothers house, he suggested they keep secret what had taken place. 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. // --> Search instead in Creative? The Spotlight Team found evidence that one of Laws top subordinates worried that Geoghan would cause further scandal at St. Julias in Weston, where he began work on Nov. 13, 1984. The priest. One case was dropped without prejudice when the alleged victim decided not to testify. ", A copy of the letter contains a redacted paragraph, an apparent reference to the Rev. Law allowed Geoghan to stay in Weston for more than eight years before removing him from parish duty in 1993. Asked if that meant the Archdiocese had no interest in knowing what the questions were, Morrissey replied: "That's correct.". spotlight@globe.com. On December 13, the institute sent Banks a letter explaining the discharge summary, stating that, "The probability he [Geoghan] would act out again is quite low. Mueller, according to her deposition, summoned her three other sons and learned that Geoghan, while purporting to be taking them out for ice cream, helping them with their baths, and reading them bedtime stories, had been raping them orally and anally. In 1996, Mitchell Garabedian filed suit against Father Geoghan, a foreshadowing of the massive litigation to follow naming hundreds of Catholic priests and dioceses throughout the United States and ultimately the world. The boy -- now a college student -- testified that Geoghan reached under his swimming. , If you have information on child abuse by priests, call. With heavy hearts, the Geoghan family announces the passing of Dr. Joseph Edward Geoghan ("Dr. Joe"). 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. In 1981, after a years sick leave, Geoghan was dispatched to St. Brendans in Dorchester, with little chance he would be placed under scrutiny: His pastor for most of his 3 1/2 years there, the Rev. 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. Brian M. Flatley to File, July 11, 1996. Our dependence in the past on Roman Catholic judges and attorneys protecting the Diocese and clerics is GONE, the report said. Banks was concerned about the conclusions of the institute's discharge summary. 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. image2off = new Image(); "I didn't know what to think. Several weeks later, Dussourd said, a contrite Thomas came to her apartment and told her that Geoghan had admitted to abusing the boys, but had excused his behavior by telling the pastor, "It was only two families.". } Whats more, specialists in child sexual abuse and attorneys who have represented victims said, it ought to have been apparent to the archdiocese by 1984 that someone with Geoghans record of habitual sexual abuse should not have been returned to a parish. The arrest is hushed up, and Geoghan is released. Additional responsibilities include meal preparation. [6] In 1995 Geoghan admitted to having molested four boys during his tenure at Blessed Sacrament. (August 24) CNN's Renay San Miguel talks to Phil . Geoghan was convicted of sexual abuse, laicized, and sentenced in 2002 to nine to ten years in Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security prison. "); Despite his history of abuse, diocesan leaders moved the abusive priest to one parish after another. For years, McSorley has battled alcoholism and depression. } [7], On November 28, 1990, Banks recommended that Geoghan return to the parish, but left the decision up to Cardinal Law and another bishop. However, we could not guarantee that it would not re-occur. 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. Nicholas Driscoll, who confirmed last week that he had been removed from St. Julias before Geoghans arrival - but for alcohol and depression problems, not sexual abuse. Retired 2000. This article was prepared by the Globe Spotlight Team: reporters Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer, and Michael Rezendes; and editor Walter V. Robinson. He routinely took the seven boys out for ice cream and put them to sleep at night. While there, he allegedly raped and fondled a boy. var s_prop1="News | Special reports"; #ada-button-frame { The St. Brendan's teacher, who declined to be named, said that at first, Geoghan's willingness to spend inordinate amounts of time with children was admired. 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. The shuttling of Geoghan from one parish to another created a devastating coincidence for one family. } But all that time, Geoghan regularly molested the seven boys in their bedrooms, Dussourd said. He wasnt all that familiar with the neighborhood in 2001, having lived there for only a few years. Law and the five bishops have all denied the accusations in legal filings. Geoghan, 65, of Scituate, worked in six Boston area churches over three decades and has been indicted on rape and sexual abuse charges in Suffolk and Middlesex counties. But Miceli acknowledged receiving a call from a woman saying Geoghan was spending too much time with her children. No American diocese has faced a scandal of similar dimensions since 1992. Former Catholic priest John Geoghan is killed in a Massachusetts prison while serving time on child sex abuse charges. Other times, he fondled their genitals or forced them to fondle his - occasionally as he prayed. In November, acting on a motion by the Globe, Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney ordered those documents made public. The 2015 film Spotlight begins on an evening in 1976 at a Boston Police station, where two policemen are discussing the arrest of Fr. [18] Banks remains Bishop Emeritus of Green Bay. . Mueller recalled the boy saying. 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. 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. McSorely added that Geoghan then began masturbating himself. Druce was said to have planned the murder of Geoghan for more than a month, considering him a "prize". Paul E. Miceli, a parish priest at St. Mary's in Melrose who knew both Geoghan and her family. image15off = new Image(); ", Within the next week, two doctors cleared Geoghan for parish duty, according to an archdiocesan chronology that is in court files. Report says Druce in a rage, September 13 . Kid said Father [Geoghan] did it."63 Memo from Rev. Lane is now retired. One night, she testified, her second youngest son came to her, insisting that she keep Geoghan away from him. Miceli, until recently a member of Laws cabinet, contradicted Mueller in his own deposition. 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. This article was prepared by the Globe Spotlight Team: reporters Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer, and Michael Rezendes; and editor Walter V. Robinson. father geoghan scituate. CNN's Michael Okwu reports. Its irrelevant because of the real estate. His earlier statements to reporters, Benzevich said, had been misconstrued. His offers to help, often by taking the children for ice cream or praying with them at bedtime, were accepted without suspicion. The church's financial liability in the pending suits could increase dramatically if there is evidence Geoghan's superiors knew of his abuse. In Geoghans case, the church defied its own most basic values of protecting the young and fostering celibacy, said A.W. The Rev. Nonetheless, Miceli said he drove to Geoghan's new parish in Jamaica Plain to relay the woman's concerns to Geoghan face-to-face. When a Globe reporter went to see him recently, he slammed the door shut as soon as Geoghan's name was mentioned. This coverage is a key plot element of Tom McCarthy's film Spotlight (2015). "[3] Psychiatrists concluded that Geoghan had "atypical pedophilia in remission" and a "mixed personality disorder with obsessive-compulsive, histrionic and narcissistic features" but decided he could be safely reassigned. . In her hardscrabble neighborhood, she said in an interview, she hoped there was a priest the children could look up to. So D'Arcy expressed concern about "further scandal in this parish." A Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial for the repose of Father's soul will be offered on Friday, March 3, 2023 at 10am, in St. Joseph Church, North Scituate. "It embarrasses me that the church is so negligent," Gallant wrote. In addition, they had been warned by an inmate that Druce intended to attack Geoghan. Sipe did not treat Geoghan. "He just zeroed in on some kids.". In November, acting on a motion by the Globe, Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney ordered those documents made public. A 1994 Archdiocesan memorandum, labeled personal and confidential, said Geoghan would stay in the Dussourd home even when he was on retreat because he missed the children so much. 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. Geoghan consultant ties eyed, September 4 He warned that he would seek court-imposed sanctions even if Globe reporters asked questions of clergy involved in the case. The uncle ordered Geoghan to leave his house, and complained to the priest's superiors at St. Paul's. image15off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/about_site_off.gif"; image6off = new Image(); But as they were filming, Brian (dArcy James) said, What did you actually say when you realized [that house] was around the corner? And I said, I probably said oh, st. And thats the line they used in the movie.. Eight months later, a 22-year-old man filed a suit claiming that Geoghan had abused him beginning in 1981, when he was seven. In a recent interview with the Globe, Benzevich said he does indeed remember Geoghan taking boys to his room. Geoghan reported that his first sexual feelings were frightening, but that he thought of himself as a heterosexual and that he fantasized about women. But the answer was delayed until Morrissey's call late Friday, in which she said she would not even accept questions in writing. 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.. There is no dispute that Geoghan abused children while he was at Blessed Sacrament in Saugus after his 1962 ordination. "I don't want him doing that to my wee-wee, touching my wee-wee . He said he was not certain that Geoghan had had boys in his room. Theres a scene in the movie Spotlight when Boston Globe reporter Matt Carroll, played by actor Brian dArcy James, realizes that a rehab facility for priests accused of sexual abuse is located around the corner from his own house. Horrified, Dussourd complained to the Rev. In the civil lawsuits, Geoghan has no attorney, and is not contesting the charges. Retired Monsignor Francis S. Rossiter, Geoghan's pastor at St. Julia's, refused to be interviewed last week. Gary E. Balcom. [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. Upon his release, Geoghan was described as "moderately improved". He routinely took the seven boys out for ice cream and put them to sleep at night. The Rev. Richard Sipe, a former priest. 12/14/84 Dr. [John H.] Brennan: "no psychiatric contraindications or restrictions to his work as a parish priest.". "Go home." According to McSorley, Geoghan, who knew the family from St. Andrew's, learned of his father's suicide and dropped by to offer condolences to his mother, who is schizophrenic. Geoghan was buried in Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts, on August 28, 2003. Miceli testified that the caller said nothing about sexual abuse. function imgOff(imgName) { It led to the resignation of Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, on December 13, 2002. According to McSorley, Geoghan, who knew the family from St. Andrew's, learned of his father's suicide and dropped by to offer condolences to his mother, who is schizophrenic. 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 year's sick leave in 1989.
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