WEYMOUTH (MA)
Weymouth News
By Michael Verseckes/ mverseck@cnc.com
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
The Rev. Eugene Sullivan, pastor of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Weymouth, has accepted voluntary leave due to a civil lawsuit which has been filed against him alleging that he abused a minor in 1977.
According to published reports, Sullivan's attorney, Paul Kelly, said that the plaintiff has the Rev. Sullivan confused with another Catholic priest with an almost identical name who was convicted of molestation. In 1984, that priest, the Rev. Eugene O'Sullivan, pleaded guilty to raping an alter boy in Arlington.
The Rev. Sullivan's lawyer insists that the plaintiff has accused the wrong man.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Mitchell Garabedian, names the Rev. Sullivan as one of the defendants who allegedly molested the plaintiff when he was 15 years old.