Ex-Altar Boy Describes Massaging Holy Priest They Treated Him As If He Was a Saint, by Natasha Korecki, Chicago Sun-Times, October 10, 2008

Ex-Altar Boy Describes Massaging 'Holy Priest'
'They Treated Him As If He Was a Saint'

By Natasha Korecki
Chicago Sun-Times
October 10, 2008

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1213388,CST-NWS-priest10.article

Each morning and each night, a 17-year-old boy who worked as a personal assistant for a world-renowned priest said he had to follow a certain routine.

The boy brought out balms and baby oil, and, as the Rev. Donald McGuire lay naked, he massaged him, the former altar boy testified Thursday in federal court.

McGuire is on trial in federal court, accused of taking children across state lines to abuse them.

From his bed, McGuire would direct the boy, identified only as Peter, to massage his private areas and tell him how to do it, Peter testified. When they traveled, the balms and oils came along too, in a plastic bag.

Another part of the daily regimen involved cleansing Peter of his sins -- done by studying issues of Playboy and Hustler, according to Peter, 28, a social worker who investigates claims of child abuse and neglect in North Carolina.

McGuire, now a defrocked Jesuit priest, allegedly forced Peter to tell him which body parts, pubic hair color and sexual positions he preferred.

Peter was one of several boys who worked as personal assistants to McGuire.

When Peter took the job in 1998, he said he was told by another boy that the "massage" was part of the routine. Peter said he thought it had to do with McGuire's diabetes.

"I thought he was in a lot of pain," Peter testified. "It seems stupid now, but that's what I thought."

After McGuire's lawyer cross-examined Peter, he walked over to his client, put his hand on his shoulder and appeared to shake him awake.

McGuire, 78, is accused of taking children across state lines to abuse them.

He wore a suit and a frown as he sat in a wheelchair in court.

In his year of service with McGuire, Peter traveled from Alaska to India with the respected Jesuit priest, who commanded powerful retreats and held himself out as handpicked by Mother Teresa to spiritually advise her nuns.

"They treated him as if he was a saint," Peter said.

When Peter's time with McGuire was over, a 13-year-old boy came to spend the summer with McGuire to "absorb the good he had to offer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Ruder said.

The abuse escalated, with McGuire allegedly performing oral sex on the boy.

"This boy was living a nightmare," Ruder said.

That alleged victim is to testify today.

Ruder said in her opening remarks that McGuire intimidated boys from talking about molestation because he was so highly regarded.

"This was Father McGuire. The holy priest, Mother Teresa's confessor," Ruder said, raising her voice.

McGuire's lawyer, Stephen Komie, opted not to give an opening statement.