Da: Lowell Priest Paid for Sex with Prostitute

By John Zaremba
Boston Herald
August 5, 2013

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/08/da_lowell_priest_paid_for_sex_with_prostitute


A high-ranking Catholic priest is on voluntary administrative leave as he faces charges of paying a prostitute for sex at a cemetery in Lowell, officials said.

The Rev. Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle “is prohibited from performing any public ministry” during his leave, the Archdiocese of Boston said. “These restrictions will remain in place pending the outcome of the case. The steps taken today do not represent a determination of Msgr. Coyle’s guilt or innocence as it pertains to these charges. The Archdiocese asks for prayers for all impacted by this matter.”

Lowell cops arrested Coyle, 62, about 5:20 p.m. at the Polish Cemetery, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said. Police were patrolling a known drug-and-hooking hot spot when “they witnessed a known prostitute in the passenger side of the defendant’s vehicle,” DA’s office spokeswoman Stephanie Chelf Guyotte said. “The defendant allegedly drove to a remote area in the cemtery. Police followed the vehicle, saw the vehicle come to a stop in a far end of the cemetery.”

“The officer waited five minutes, then approached the vehicle,” she said.

Coyle was released on $500 bail today after his arraignment on charges of paying for sexual conduct, the DA’s office said. He is due back in court Sept. 16.

Coyle was ordained in 1977 and received the title of Prelate of Honor in 2012, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. He had been serving as episcopal vicar of the Merrimack region for the Archdiocese since 2008.

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