MASSACHUSETTS
Cape Cod Chroncile
By: William F. Galvin
WEST HARWICH — A long shadow of sexual abuse came to light this week with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River settling eight sexual abuse cases against the late Rev. James Nickel, who served as a priest in Holy Trinity Church from 1972 to 1978.
Seven of the eight boys sexually abused by Nickel were alter boys. Six of them served in Holy Trinity Church and one at Our Lady of Annunciation in Dennisport. The other child was abused by Nickel on a trip to Abaco Island, Bahamas, said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented the eight victims.
A press release issued by Garabedian stated the Congregation of Sacred Hearts and the Diocese of Fall River recently found all of the men’s accounts of having been sexually abused as children credible, and settled the eight cases for $880,000.
Garabedian said the sexual abuses took place between 1973 and 1983 and occurred in West Harwich, Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island, Illinois, New York, Washington, D.C., Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Garabedian said Nickel received the permission of parents to take trips with the boys to baseball games, amusement parks and to visit his family.
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