BishopAccountability.org
	Plaintiff Takes Stand in Priest-Abuse Trial Burlington Free Press May 8, 2008 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/NEWS/80508015 A former Burlington altar boy testified today that abuse by a parish priest 30 years ago has left him "a very angry man." The plaintiff's testimony came on the fourth day of a trial at Chittenden County Superior Court in a civil suit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington. The man, a 40-year-old Burlington native now living in Colorado, said he never complained to anyone about the abuse by former Rev. Edward Paquette because he believed that priests were the next thing to God and his way to heaven. The Burlington Free Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse or violence without their permission. On direct examination by his attorney, Jerome O'Neill, the plaintiff showed little emotion in recounting the alleged abuse. Asked how he felt about the incidents, the man said "it was not pleasureable." He described to the jury the first incident, stating "I thought it was a one-timer. I thought he was overly excited about how the mass went." He kept silent about the abuse, he said, because he feared he would be removed from Christ the King School and separated from his friends and sent to public school. The man testified that he only realized the impact of the abuse when he learned of a settlement between a South Burlington man and the state's diocese regarding another case involving Paquette. It was only then, he said, that he became aware that the diocese was aware of Paquette's previous and ongoing abuse and did nothing to stop it.
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