Jury Selection in Civil Case against Springfield Bishops Thomas Dupre and Joseph Maguire

By Laura Hutchinson
WWLP
July 23, 2012

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/jury-selection-in-civil-case-against-springfield-bishops-thomas-dupre-and-joseph-maguire?ref=scroller&categoryId=20000&status=true

Jury selection has begun in a civil case against former Springfield Bishops Thomas Dupre and Joseph Maguire.

Greenfield Attorney John Stobierski claims his client, Andrew Nicastro, who is in his 40s now, was sexually abused by Father Alfred Graves when he was between the ages of 11 and 13 years old.

Now, his client is suing Catholic Church leaders, claiming they knew Graves had a history of indecent conduct with a minor.

“It’s angering. It could have all been avoided had someone simply did anything, anything at all,” Nicastro told 22News back in 2009 when he announced he was filing a lawsuit.

At that time, Andrew’s mother, Augusta Nicastro, also told 22News she felt betrayed by her faith.

“I can never believe we had so much trust in the Church and the priest. All my life I thought they were the closest thing to God,” she said.

Nicastro has said the Catholic Church has offered him many apologies however he hopes a public lawsuit will help prevent this from happening to other children.

Diocesan spokesperson Mark Dupont told 22News that Graves was removed from active priestly ministry in 1992, and was fully removed from the clerical state on November 4, 2006.