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| Paul Babeu Was Told As Child by Priest, " Father Lavigne Hasn't Broken You In"
Tucson Citizen
February 22, 2012
tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2012/02/22/paul-babeu-was-told-as-child-by-priest-father-lavigne-hasnt-broken-you-in/
Paul Babeu sues Catholic priest for sexual abuse.
Former Berkshire County Commissioner, Paul Babeu, is suing a former priest, accusing him of sexual abuse.
The suit was recently filed by Babeu who now lives in Arizona. It is the eleventh lawsuit filed this year against the Rev. Richard Lavigne.
Springfield Diocese Bishop Thomas Dupre has begun proceedings to defrock Lavigne, who recently completed a ten-year probation sentence.
from December 18, 2002.
How did that lawsuit turn out?
SPRINGFIELD – Former Berkshire County Commissioner Paul R. Babeu has reached a settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vt., in a lawsuit stating that he was abused by a Montague native who was serving as a Vermont priest at the time of the alleged incident.
In exchange for Babeu agreeing to drop his suit against the diocese, the Vermont church has agreed to pay "a low amount" of money to Babeu, according to his lawyer Thomas C. Bixby, a member of the Brattleboro, Vt., law firm McCarty Law Offices.
Babeu, 34, who works as a police officer in Chandler, Ariz., said his suit was never about the money.
"Nothing can truly erase the harm done by the sexual abuse. I feel the settlement is an acknowledgment of their responsibility in what happened to me," Babeu said yesterday.
Babeu said that at age 15 he was transported by Springfield diocesan priest the Rev. Richard R. Lavigne to northern Vermont where he was left overnight with the Rev. George Paulin, who sexually abused him.
"When Lavigne dropped me off, and I fought off his advances, he said, 'Apparently Father Lavigne hasn't broken you in,'" Babeu said.
from October 16, 2003.
Speaking out about this event within the last year:
"I was a victim of sexual assault when I was a young boy, actually by a priest back in Massachusetts," Babeu told the website. "That was something that had a dramatic impact on me and my life."
Babeu said the abuse began at age 11 and continued for several years. He reported the abuse, which altered his views of people in positions of power.
from March 3rd, 2011.
Agreed. People in positions of power, especially in Arizona today, can really use their power to screw you over, including the Mexican American children of Tucson Unified School District.
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