April 05, 2005

Ex-Priest Arraigned On Child Sexual Assault Charges

BOSTON (MA)
TheBostonChannel.com

POSTED: 12:15 pm EDT April 5, 2005
UPDATED: 12:42 pm EDT April 5, 2005

BOSTON -- A defrocked priest with a prior conviction for indecent assault on a child faced additional charges in a Boston courtroom Tuesday.

NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported that Robert Burns, 56, pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing five boys, including six counts of rape on a child under 16, and seven counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14.

The alleged sexual assaults occurred from the early to mid-1980s through the early 1990s at St. Thomas Aquinas in Jamaica Plain and at St. Mary's Parish in Charlestown. He moved to New Hampshire in 1991, where he sold real estate.

"One while he was a priest at St. Thomas Aquinas in Jamaica Plain, and four while he was assigned to St. Mary's Parish in Charlestown. In all but one of the cases, the abuse began before they were 10 years old," said Assistant District Attorney David Deakin.

In 1995, he was arrested and convicted of sexually assaulting a boy in New Hampshire. He served three years in jail. He was defrocked as priest in 1999.

Posted by kshaw at April 5, 2005 12:25 PM