It was as if Geoghan had been asked if he preferred chocolate or vanilla ice cream.. . Geoghan was eventually convicted of a single count of molesting a boy at a public swimming pool and later murdered by his prison cellmate. 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. But Church records note that Rossiter was aware of Geoghans history. Even so, the archdiocese returned him to St. Julia's, where Geoghan continued to abuse children for another three years. "I'll say the Mass myself," Daily insisted. image10on = new Image(); 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. And now, as the plaintiff in one of the lawsuits against Geoghan, McSorley is bitter. It embarrasses me that the church is so negligent, Gallant wrote. He warned that he would seek court-imposed sanctions even if Globe reporters asked questions of clergy involved in the case. It will never happen again.' image15on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/about_site_on.gif"; [13], A Worcester jury found Druce guilty of first-degree murder on January 25, 2006, after the jury rejected his insanity defense. The number of victim was growing, and the evil was spreading. And in his first two years, he was in charge of altar boys, religious education for public school youngsters and a youth group, according to the churchs annual directories. So he went home, put a picture of Geoghan on the fridge and gathered his children, who were then aged 12, 10, eight, and six. Dussourd discovered what was happening after the children finally told her sister, Margaret Gallant. Part of your responsibilities will include . . 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. He was transferred after seven months there; church records offered no explanation for his reassignment. He `would touch them while they were sleeping and waken them by playing with their penises.' The priest lived there again after he was defrocked before he went to prison, Loney said. And Im thinking, Where is Pelton Street in West Roxbury? And I looked at it, and it was around the corner from my house.. 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. Parishioners feel like they are paying for the sins of others. [3], Geoghan's next assignment was at St. Andrew's Parish in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood, starting on June 4, 1974. Dussourd discovered what was happening after the children finally told her sister, Margaret Gallant. But court records reviewed by the Globe show that when Benzevich appeared in Garabedian's office for a pre-trial deposition in October 2000, he was represented by Wilson Rogers 3d - the son of Law's principal attorney. [3] On April 20, 1967, Geoghan was assigned to St. Paul's Parish in Hingham. 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. Also, Mueller said, Geoghan was insisting they tell no one. So D'Arcy expressed concern about "further scandal in this parish." For Carroll, however, there was a story. And, she said, he was incensed that he had not been warned. if (document.images) { 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. He was dismissed from there by the Bishop of Portsmouth Crispian Hollis. (Geoghan, 66, was sentenced last week to nine to 10 years in prison after being convicted of indecent assault on a 10-year-old boy, but lawyers say he may have had as many as 130 victims.) Miceli, until recently a member of Law's cabinet, contradicted Mueller in his own deposition. It was the home of Father John J. Geoghan, a priest accused of sexually assaulting more than 130 boys. In 1984, there were still some clinicians who believed child molesters could be cured. 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. 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? Geoghan protested, saying there was no one else to celebrate the 4 p.m. Mass. While there, he allegedly raped and fondled a boy. Accused of molesting two boys at Cushing Hall, one in 1967-68 and one in 1971. Druce was said to have planned the murder of Geoghan for more than a month, considering him a "prize". 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. Lane, the teacher said, was so devastated that he broke down when he told her the news. [23], Canadian punk-rock band Billy Talent's song "Devil in a Midnight Mass" from the album Billy Talent II (2006) addresses Geoghan's story from a victim's perspective.[24]. 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. 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 second, more serious set of charges are due to be tried in Suffolk Superior Court in late February. James H. Lane, has told friends he was never warned that Geoghan had a history of sex abuse.