January 26, 2005

Ex-Priest's Trial on Rape Charges Begins

CAMBRIDGE (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press Writer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— Prosecutors say news reports about the clergy sex abuse scandal plaguing the Boston Archdiocese triggered a man's memory of being molested in the 1980s by a parish priest in the 1980s.

But a lawyer for priest Paul Shanley, defrocked by the Vatican last year, questioned the timing and validity of those memories and said the defense would call expert witnesses to debunk the science behind so-called repressed memories.

The alleged victim is expected to take the stand Wednesday in the second day of Shanley's trial on child rape charges.

In opening statements Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Rooney said Shanley told the victim, then 6, "If you tell, no one will believe you," before molesting him.

"Those memories were buried deep inside" until media coverage of the scandal in Boston awakened them, Rooney said.

Posted by kshaw at January 26, 2005 05:53 AM