January 10, 2005

Cops seek link in Methuen molest case

METHUEN (MA)
Boston Herald

By O’Ryan Johnson
Monday, January 10, 2005

Methuen police said two volunteers at the town's Mormon church arrested last week for sex crimes may have shared more than their love of God.

Chief Joseph E. Solomon said investigators are tracking leads that indicate Kevin F. Curlew, 43, of Dracut and Peter A. Paquette, 59, of Andover worked as a team, possibly targeting young victims for sexual abuse.

``We're looking to see if they were working together,'' he said. ``That doesn't mean they were molesting kids together, but they (investigators) are looking to see if they worked together to identify kids or were doing something together. We have leads that point in that direction.''

Curlew was charged with several counts of sexual abuse for pulling down the pants of a 9-year-old boy in the bathroom of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, while the boy's mother attended church functions.

Paquette, the church librarian, was arrested Friday for failing to register as a sex offender for two convictions for indecent assault and battery in 1970 and 1980.

He said he and Curlew were ``absolutely not'' working together, and called that part of the investigation ``absurd.''

Posted by kshaw at January 10, 2005 07:51 AM