VERMONT
The Republican
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
By BILL ZAJAC
wzajac@repub.com
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vt., settled the first of 12 suits alleging abuse by a Westfield resident, the Rev. Edward O. Paquette Jr., for $965,000 - the largest single clergy abuse settlement in Vermont, according to the plaintiff's lawyer.
"This is not the strongest case. We are presenting the cases in the chronological order in which the suits were filed," said the plaintiff's lawyer, Jerome O'Neill of O'Neill Kellner and Green of Burlington.
Michael Gay of South Burlington was awarded the settlement for the abuse he alleges occurred at Christ the King Church in Burlington in the 1970s when Gay was an altar boy, according to court records and O'Neill. Diocesan lawyer David Cleary could not be reached for comment yesterday, but confirmed to The Burlington Free Press and other Vermont media last week that the settlement was reached Wednesday.