Priest Pleads Not Guilty in Abuse Case

By Ariel Rodriguez
Boston Herald
September 11, 2012

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061159444&srvc=rss

An Episcopal priest accused of having inappropriate contact with a child over a 10-year period pleaded not guilty in Somerville District Court yesterday.

The Rev. Paul A. LaCharite, formerly of St. James Episcopal Church in Somerville, faces "one count of assault to rape a child and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14," according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

LaCharite was released after posting $10,000 cash bail. Prosecutors had originally requested $25,000 bail.

The judge ordered LaCharite to have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16. He was also ordered to surrender his passport and he must stay away from the accuser's home and work, among other conditions, according to the DA's office.

Prosecutors said the alleged victim claims that the priest began abusing him in the 1990s, when he was in elementary school. The accuser also claims that the abuse lasted for a decade, stopping only when LaCharite left St. James.

LaCharite's lawyer, David Meier, said that the last contact the priest had with the accuser was about two years ago, when LaCharite baptized the accuser's daughter.

LaCharite's next scheduled court appearance is for a probable cause hearing on Oct. 22.