Former Altar Boy Sues Vermont Catholic Diocese, NECN, December 3, 2008

Former Altar Boy Sues Vermont Catholic Diocese

NECN

December 3, 2008

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2008/12/03/Former-altar-boy-sues-Vermont/1228344409.html

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(Anya Huneke, NECN: Burlington, VT) - A trial got underway today in Vermont- involving a priest who a former altar boy claims molested him in the 1970s.

The suit is not against the priest, but Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese, which the plaintiff says is guilty of negligent supervision, and should pay compensatory and punitive damages as a result.

"One day, he and Father Paquette are alone in the Sacristy..."

To a jury of 8 women and 6 men,. Attorney Jerry O'Neill recounted a 30-year-old incident involving a Vermont priest and a young altar boy at Christ the King Church in Burlington.

That boy - now 41 and living in Maryland - claims father Edward Paquette molested him twice in the late 1970s... And that Vermont's Roman Catholic diocese could have, but did not prevent it from happening.

Jerry "If the Diocese had never hired Paquette .. he wouldn't have come to Vermont and molested boys here."

In Chittenden superior court in Burlington Wednesday .. Lawyers outlined their cases. The plaintiff's attorneys say they will prove the diocese - under then-Bishop John Marshal - hired father Paquette *knowing* he had a history of pedophilia in Massachusetts and Indiana... And then covered up sexual abuse by Paquette in Vermont- enabling him to molest a number of boys.

Jerry "We're suing the Diocese and we will prove that it created an atmosphere where sexual molestation was an acceptable practice."

Lawyers for the diocese say it's not so black and white-- molestation was not acceptable... But it was seen - by psychiatrists at the time - as treatable.

Tom "At that time, pedophilia was thought of as a mental illness associated with depression."

Which is why, defense attorneys say, it's difficult to judge decisions made at a different time... By a now-deceased diocesan leader.

Tom McCormick\Diocesan Atty "The advice he was given was wrong... his decision was mistaken... but it was not a corrupt culture."

This is the third priest sex abuse trial in Vermont this year... all have involved Father Paquette. But there's no saying how this one will turn out-- the previous trial, in August, ended in a hung jury... and the one before that, in May, ended in an $8.7-million verdict for the plaintiff."

Kurt Hughes "It's very hard to predict the results in this case based on what's happened in the past."

Burlington attorney Kurt Hughes says the outcome will be affected by the make-up of the jury... The facts in this case... And the strategy of the attorneys.

Kurt "To a large extent, it depends on how well the plaintiff comes across to the jury- is it someone who's sincere? whose injuries are real?"

The plaintiff will take the stand. The trial is expected to wrap up next week.