February 21, 2006

Ex-student testifies priest fondled, massaged him

ELKHORN (WI)
Chicago Tribune

By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 21, 2006

ELKHORN, Wis. -- A Massachusetts man who says a renowned Jesuit priest molested him in the 1960s spent more than four hours Monday detailing for jurors how Rev. Donald McGuire allegedly fondled him and exchanged naked massages with him when he was a teenager in his room on the Loyola Academy campus in Wilmette.

But amid graphic evidence, the witness, Victor Bender, 53, was questioned by a defense attorney who described him as money-hungry and pointed out apparent discrepancies in his story. The Tribune does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse unless they agree to have their names used, as Bender did Monday.

Defense attorney Gerald Boyle said Bender incorrectly told police that McGuire had no distinguishing marks on his body and that he couldn't say whether the priest was circumcised or name the floor on which McGuire lived in the school's faculty residence.

Posted by kshaw at February 21, 2006 07:41 AM