BOSTON (MA)
Patriot Ledger [Quincy MA]
July 28, 2021
By Mary Whitfill
The Boston archdiocese has settled a Norton man’s claim that higher-ups in the institution failed to protect him when he was 11 years old and sexually abused by a priest in Norwood.
Lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, well-known for representing sexual abuse victims in claims against the archdiocese, said in a news release Wednesday that a settlement in the “high five figures” was reached last month.
His client, a Norton man, sued three people in the church for failing to protect him from the abuse of the Rev. Paul R. McCarthy when he was serving at the St. Catherine of Siena school and church in Norwood.
McCarthy worked in the Norwood church for four years before he was transferred to St. Augustine Church in Boston, Garabedian said. Before that, he worked at St. Mary’s Church in Charlestown, Our Lady of Grace Church in Chelsea and St. Ann’s Church in Somerville.
In April, Garabedian’s client sued the Rev. Robert J. Banks, the Rev. Maurice J. O’Connor and an unknown third higher-up in the church for failing to protect him from sexual abuse from 1989 to 1990.
The lawsuit claims McCarthy fondled the plaintiff when his accuser was 11 and 12 years old, while also touching himself. His accuser, who attended both the church and parochial elementary school of St. Catherine of Siena, said he suffered sleep problems, sadness, crying, anxiety, depression and anger following the alleged abuse.
“By reporting the sexual abuse, clergy sexual abuse victims are empowering themselves and other victims, and expressing an important need to protect innocent children,” Garabedian said in a statement.
A representative for the archdiocese said the church does not comment on liltigation.
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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.