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Letter: Druce abused as a boy, September 12 He warned that he would seek court-imposed sanctions even if Globe reporters asked questions of clergy involved in the case. The judge also allowed attorneys to add Father Paul E. Miceli as a defendant in 57 lawsuits. Eight months later, a 22-year-old man filed a suit claiming that Geoghan had abused him beginning in 1981, when he was seven. Despite his record, Geoghan was assigned to St. Julia's. "He just zeroed in on some kids.". A high-ranking cleric talks to the mother of the children. image11off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/2002_scandal_off.gif"; And he said he could not recall notifying superiors about Geoghans behavior with children. 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. Paul E. Miceli, a parish priest at St. Marys in Melrose who knew both Geoghan and her family. As a result, Geoghan was sent to the Seton Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, for treatment for his pedophilia. John Joseph "Jack" Geoghan (/ e n /; June 4, 1935 - August 23, 2003) was an American serial child rapist and Roman Catholic priest assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts.He was reassigned to several parish posts involving interaction with children, even after receiving treatment for pedophilia.. The cardinal and five other bishops who supervised Geoghan over the years have been accused of negligence in many of the civil suits for allegedly knowing of Geoghans abuse and doing nothing to stop it. He then changed to Portsmouth and went too Oscott seminary. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He was dismissed from there by the Bishop of Portsmouth Crispian Hollis. The house in question is now owned by Michael Loney, who works for the Boston Police Department. One case was dropped without prejudice when the alleged victim decided not to testify. Riding home after getting ice cream, McSorley says, Geoghan consoled him. The files also contain a poignant - and prophetic - August 1982 letter to Laws predecessor, the late Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, from the aunt of Geoghans seven Jamaica Plain victims, expressing incredulity that the church to which she was devoted would give Geoghan another chance at St. Brendans after what he had done to her family. Then came last July's disclosure that Cardinal Bernard F. Law knew about Geoghan's problems in 1984, Law's first year in Boston, yet approved his transfer to St. Julia's parish in Weston. 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. Read more from the 2002 Boston Globe report on the Catholic Church abuse crisis. 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.. So D'Arcy expressed concern about "further scandal in this parish." The Boston Globe's coverage of Geoghan's abuse opened the door for public knowledge of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston[2] and Catholic churches nationwide in general. Before Geoghan ever got to Weston in 1984, he had already been treated several times and hospitalized at least once for molesting boys. if (document.images) { In February 1981, he was sent to his fifth parish, St. Brendans. It will never happen again.' The priest. image4on = new Image(); He said Geoghan often sought to wrestle with young boys - and liked to dress them in priest's attire. But Miceli acknowledged receiving a call from a woman saying Geoghan was spending too much time with her children. var s_code=' '//--> 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. None of the bishops would comment. document[imgName].src = eval(imgName + "on.src"); Law and the five bishops have all denied the accusations in legal filings. Before Geoghan ever got to Weston in 1984, he had already been treated several times and hospitalized at least once for molesting boys. 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? This article was prepared by the Globe Spotlight Team: reporters Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer, and Michael Rezendes; and editor Walter V. Robinson. . During his assignment in Hingham, Geoghan found victims far afield, befriending Joanne Mueller, a single mother of four boys who lived in Melrose. And he had been removed from at least two parishes for sexual abuse. It embarrasses me that the church is so negligent, Gallant wrote. Im aware of some history, but the world has a history. In preparing this article, the Globe also sought interviews with many of the priests and bishops who had supervised Geoghan or worked with him. Geoghan was defrocked in 1998 by Pope John Paul II. "Regardless of what he says, or the doctor who treated him, I do not believe he is cured; his actions strongly suggest that he is not, and there is no guarantee that persons with these obsessions are ever cured," Margaret Gallant said in her plea to Medeiros. From April 312, 1989, he was treated at the Saint Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he was diagnosed with homosexual pedophilia. Parents who learned of the abuse, often wracked by shame, guilt, and denial, tried to forget what the church had done. 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. Church records obtained by the Globe note that Geoghan was indeed medically cleared for the St. Julia's assignment - but not until he had been at the parish for a month. Nonetheless, Miceli said he drove to Geoghan's new parish in Jamaica Plain to relay the woman's concerns to Geoghan face-to-face. There too, according to depositions, the priest became a regular visitor, a spiritual counselor to Mueller and a helpmate to her boys, who were between 5 and 12. 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. Law and the five bishops have all denied the accusations in legal filings. The arrest is hushed up, and Geoghan is released. The shuttling of Geoghan from one parish to another created a devastating coincidence for one family. Bias concerns raised in probe, September 2 function imgOn(imgName) { display: none; Paul E. Miceli, a parish priest at St. Mary's in Melrose who knew both Geoghan and her family. Duties include providing companionship and social interaction. Geoghan's sister hits guards, September 27 Additional responsibilities include meal preparation. 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. var myindex=form.dest.selectedIndex ; . [an error occurred while processing this directive] image5off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/financial_cost_off.gif"; Boston's Suffolk County prosecuted Geoghan in two other sexual abuse cases. 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. His offers to help, often by taking the children for ice cream or praying with them at bedtime, were accepted without suspicion. But one of Laws bishops thought that the 1984 assignment of Geoghan to St. Julias was so risky, he wrote the cardinal a letter in protest. The Spotlight e-mail address is McSorely added that Geoghan then began masturbating himself. Geoghan consultant ties eyed, September 4 We knew something wasnt right, the teacher said. The second, more serious set of charges are due to be tried in Suffolk Superior Court in late February. Retired Monsignor Francis S. Rossiter, Geoghans pastor at St. Julias, refused to be interviewed last week. The Rev. I felt a little funny about it, McSorley recalled in an interview. Despite his history of abuse, diocesan leaders moved the abusive priest to one parish after another. I dont believe in ghosts, Loney said when asked about the houses previous inhabitant. image13off = new Image(); On Dec. 17, Rogers sent the Globes 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. During life Father Geoghan had expressed the hope that he would die with his shoes on, active to the end. "I didn't know what to think. The files also contain a poignant - and prophetic - August 1982 letter to Law's predecessor, the late Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, from the aunt of Geoghan's seven Jamaica Plain victims, expressing incredulity that the church to which she was devoted would give Geoghan another chance at St. Brendan's after what he had done to her family. Richard Sipe, a former priest. Three years later, after more allegations surfaced against him, he spent several months in therapy in the Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada. The Archdiocese of Boston had no immediate comment yesterday. 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 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 . image12off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/parish_map_off.gif"; Since mid-December, the Globe has been requesting interviews with Law and other Church officials. The official said Daily drove to Jamaica Plain and said Mass.