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	Former Cambridge Priest Defrocked By Erin Smith Cambridge Chronicle [Cambridge MA] January 26, 2007 http://www.townonline.com/cambridge/homepage/8998977482849779711 The Vatican defrocked former Cambridge priest and convicted child rapist Paul Hurley on Friday. Hurley was convicted of two counts of child rape and sentenced to four years in prison in July. The judge also ordered Hurley to serve five years probation upon his release from prison and to register as a sex offender. Hurley was convicted of raping a teenage boy at the now-closed Blessed Sacrament church in Central Square in the 1980s. According to church officials, Hurley served as pastor at Blessed Sacrament from 1987-2001. At this summer's trial, the victim — a 33-year-old Everett man — told the jury that Hurley began abusing him at St. Peter and Paul's Church in South Boston when he was 12. The Chronicle does not identify victims of rape and sexual abuse. According to the victim's court testimony, the abuse would continue for the next four years — after Hurley was transferred to Cambridge — at the rectory of Blessed Sacrament. The Boston Archdiocese placed Hurley on administrative leave after the allegations surfaced in 2001. "For those who have been sexually abused by members of the clergy, including those who were harmed by Paul W. Hurley, I recognize that today's announcement may bring renewed grief and pain," said Cardinal Seán O'Malley in a statement. "I again apologize for the suffering you and your families have endured. I remain committed to providing support for counseling and pastoral care to all who have been harmed by clergy sexual abuse. I encourage persons in need of such assistance to contact our Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach." esmith@cnc.com
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