WORCESTER (MA)
CBS 4
(CBS4) WORCESTER Joseph Druce's mother took the stand Thursday as his defense team began presenting its case in the trial of the prison inmate charged with murdering defrocked priest John Geoghan.
Donna Gauthier said her son was a disturbed child who was beaten by his father, frequently fought with other children and became obsessed with sex at a young age.
Gauthier testified that by the time her son finished kindergarten, he was so aggressive and disruptive in class that he was sent to a residential school for children with behavioral problems. As a young teenager, Druce was sent to a program for emotionally disturbed youths at a state psychiatric hospital.
The defense is trying to convince the jury that Druce was mentally ill when he beat and strangled Geoghan in his prison cell at Sousa-Baranowski state prison.