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	Judge Denies Testimony in Molestation Case By Sam Hemingway Burlington Free Press September 23, 2009 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090923/NEWS02/909230313 The presiding judge in an upcoming civil trial involving molestation claims against the Rev. Edward Paquette has told lawyers in the case she will not permit testimony about other church priests accused of sexually abusing children. Judge Helen Toor, in a seven-page ruling, said such information was unrelated to the claims made by the former altar boy that the state's Roman Catholic diocese was to blame for the alleged molestation because it knew Paquette was a pedophile when it hired him. "While prior notice to the diocese of a pattern of acts of abuse by other priests might be relevant, the mere fact that they occurred does not establish that the diocese knew or had reason to know that they occurred," Toor wrote. "The probative value of evidence regarding unrelated actions by other priests is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice," she said in another part of her ruling. The decision, expected to be discussed during a pre-trial hearing this morning before Toor at Chittenden Superior Court, marks a major break with pre-trial rulings made by three judges who presided over four previous priest sex abuse trials in the same court. In those cases, the judges allowed lawyers for altar boy victims of priest molestation to put on such evidence on grounds that it purported to show the diocese's hiring and retention of Paquette was part of a pattern of negligent supervision of problem priests. Jerome O'Neill, the lead lawyer for the former altar boys in 32 priest sex abuse lawsuits filed with the court, declined comment on Toor's ruling, as did Thomas McCormick, a diocese lawyer. Toor, in her ruling, also put off a decision on whether O'Neill and his co-counsel, John Evers, can put on evidence about other alleged victims of Paquette or show jurors personnel records from other dioceses. Both were key pieces of testimony that the judges in previous priest molestation trials in Burlington allowed the jurors to hear. Of the 32 cases, 23 involve claims Paquette molested altar boys at parishes in Rutland, Montpelier and Burlington. Two of the cases ended with multi-million dollar verdicts against the diocese, which are on appeal before the Vermont Supreme Court. The upcoming trial, scheduled to begin next week, involves claims by a former altar boy at Christ the King Church in Burlington that Paquette molested him at the church in the late 1970s. Paquette, who is retired and lives in Westfield, Mass., is not a defendant in the case. The former altar boy lives in Burlington. The Burlington Free Press does not disclose the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse without their permission. Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com. To have Free Press headlines delivered free to your e-mail, sign up at www.burlingtonfreepress.com/newsletters.
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