March 25, 2005

Former OLP priest cleared of sexual abuse charges

BRIGHTON
Allston-Brighton Tab

By Laura Crimaldi/ Boston Herald
Friday, March 25, 2005

A priest accused of abusing children in Brighton was cleared of sexual abuse charges by a Plymouth jury last week.

Former Our Lady of the Presentation priest John P. Lyons was cleared of accusations he repeatedly raped a young boy during private religious tutoring sessions at Rochester's St. Rose of Lima Church during the 1980s.

The family of the accuser cried as Lyons, 77, closed his eyes and bowed his head when the jury delivered a not-guilty verdict on one count of child rape in Brockton Superior Court.

"I can't believe you would do this to my son," the accuser's mother cried out.

The Boston Archdiocese placed Lyons, a former Our Lady of the Presentation priest, on administrative leave in May 2002. Lyons was removed from his post after two Allston-Brighton men sued Lyons, alleging he repeatedly molested them when they were OLP altar boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Posted by kshaw at March 25, 2005 05:43 PM