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	Victim's Lawyer: Church Looked after Priests _ Not Children By John Curran The Newsday June 20, 2007 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny—priestsextrial0620jun20,0,4369305.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork Burlington, Vt. — The first priest sex abuse case against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington to go to trial got under way Wednesday, with a man's lawyer telling jurors the Diocese is more concerned with shielding itself from liability and protecting predatory priests than in looking out for their child victims. Jerome O'Neill told jurors he is seeking a seven-figure award to compensate alleged victim James Turner, 46, of Virginia Beach, Va., who says he was molested by a priest in 1977 _ in one case in a New York hotel room. The emotional fallout has plagued him ever since, leading to two failed marriages and trouble with jobs and trust, according to his lawyer, who said the Diocese set the stage for the alleged abuse and actively sought to block the prosecution of former Rev. Alfred Willis. "This will haunt him throughout his life," said O'Neill. Turner sued the Diocese in 2004, alleging that it bore responsibility for the actions of Willis. Church lawyer Thomas McCormick countered that the Diocese had no prior notice of Willis' proclivities before the alleged attacks and that its handling of other priests accused of molestation _ some of whom O'Neill said were moved from parish to parish, with no notice to parents or pastors about the allegations they left behind _ has no bearing on the Turner case. The Diocese, which serves about 118,000 Roman Catholics in Vermont, faces about two dozen lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests. It has paid out about $1.4 million in settlements in other cases, none of which have come to trial. Turner, who has allowed his name to be published, was in court for the proceedings Wednesday but didn't testify. He is expected to take the stand Friday. In his suit, he said Willis performed a sex act on him in a Latham, N.Y., hotel room where up to eight people slept after attending a June 1977 ordination ceremony for Turner's brother. Turner was 16 at the time. The now-defrocked Willis _ who denies the allegations but settled out of court with Turner and was removed from the case being heard _ tried to do it again while visiting the Derby home of Turner's family later that year, according to the suit. Turner said he fought off that attack. The incidents could have been avoided, according to O'Neill, who used the first half of his 45-minute opening to talk about the church's handling of other priest sex cases, including that of former Rev. Edward Paquette. Paquette was suspended from the priesthood in 1978 amid complaints he had molested boys, and he has since been named in at least 17 civil suits. "This is not a case about Paquette or any of the other priests Mr. O'Neill told you about," McCormick told jurors in his opening. "This is the Turner case." He said the rector of the seminary where Willis trained to be a priest wrote to the Diocese's vocational director to tell them that Willis was suspected of "homosexual conduct" but that an investigation by the seminary couldn't substantiate it and recommended the matter be dropped. There was no suggestion Willis couldn't be trusted around children, McCormick told the Chittenden County Superior Court jury of seven men and seven women _ 12 jurors and two alternates. "The Diocese was unaware of Mr. Willis' propensities at the time Mr. Turner says he was abused," he said. He said the Diocese will present one or two witnesses to refute Turner's claim that in 1981, then-Bishop John A. Marshall tried to pressure Chittenden County State's Attorney Mark Keller into not prosecuting Willis, using Keller's faith against him. According to former Deputy State's Attorney Susan Via, a sex crimes prosecutor who was present, Marshall told Keller _ a Catholic _ that if he insisted on prosecuting Willis, "it could be viewed by the church as committing the sin of scandal." But McCormick told jurors Wednesday the real reason Willis wasn't prosecuted was that the parents of the alleged victims wouldn't cooperate. Marshall died in 1992; Keller may be called to testify about the meeting, according to church lawyers.
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