BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX
Burlington, Vermont - April 17, 2006
The first of 17 priest misconduct trials began Monday in Burlington.
38-year-old Michael Gay claims he was sexually abused by Edward Paquette when he served as an altar boy more than 25 years ago.
Gay is seeking damages from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
"We are going to be talking very substantial numbers in connection with this case. We are going to be talking damages to compensate Mr. Gay in the two-to-five million dollar range. We are going to be talking about what we can call punitive damages, to the punish the diocese for what conduct was put forth here in the multi-million dollar range," said Gay's lawyer Jerry O'Neil.