FALL RIVER (MA)
Taunton Gazette [Taunton MA]
December 21, 2023
By Daniel Schemer
A Taunton man who says he survived childhood sexual abuse by a former Taunton priest came forward publicly for the first time after years of anonymity and litigation to recount his trauma and discuss the settlement he recently reached with the Diocese of Fall River.
“I don’t want a child going through 40 years of spiritual turmoil and hell, feeling ashamed to seek out the help they need,” Daniel Lewis of Taunton said Wednesday.
Lewis was standing near the former St. Paul’s Church on Tremont Street in Taunton — the property now is the unaffiliated Silver City Baptist Church — as he spoke about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of the man who served as the church’s priest at that time, the Rev. Edward J. Byington.
Buried trauma for decades
In 1976, Lewis, age 12 at the time, was a youth member of St. Paul’s. Lewis spoke of Byington — who died two week ago on Dec. 6, according to his obituary — “grooming” him at church by giving him wine, touching him and giving “loving expressions of care” which, Lewis said, made him susceptible to Byington’s intentions.
Later, in the same day, Byington convinced Lewis to come over to his home, at the time, on Lake Sabbatia, under the guise of helping him bring in his canoe from the water. Byington drove him to his home on the lake. Lewis said Byington sexually abused him at this time, inside his home.
Lewis said he never went back to St. Paul’s after that.
Lewis explained he buried this incident in his mind and never spoke about it with anyone, which lead to “a havoc of bad situations in my life, trying to deal with it alone.”
In his remaining years as a child in school, he said his grades were affected and he got into problems with the law. This ultimately led to his blaming himself for the abuse, he said.
“I grew up thinking I had the problems, that it was my fault,” he said.
‘Credibly accused’Three more priests from Fall River diocese are now considered ‘credibly accused’ of abuse
In the decades after, Lewis said his self-loathing manifested as alcoholism and never reaching his full potential professionally.
“As a man, you are taught not to talk about emotions,” he said, adding the memory of abuse was “like a cancer, it got into me spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically.”Get the Inside Massachusetts Politics newsletter in your inbox.
Today, Lewis still resides in Taunton, works for GATRA, and sees a psychiatrist regularly.
“This never goes away, but my psychiatrist says it gets better,” Lewis said.
“He’s an example of never being too late to come forward and report sexual abuse,” said Lewis’s attorney, Mitchell Garabedian.
Attorney has represented other victims
Garabedian said he has represented many victims of sexual abuse by clergy over two decades. One victim is Claude LeBoeuf, who was present at Wednesday’s press conference outside St. Paul’s, in support of Lewis.
“I see parallels between us,” LeBoeuf said.
LeBoeuf came forward years ago with allegations of sexual abuse occurring in 1960 at a church in Attleboro.
“My memory buried it for almost 60 years,” LeBoeuf said.
The abuser, James Porter, pleaded guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 children throughout the 1960s and 1970s, while he was a priest with Fall River Diocese. Porter died in 2005.
Garabedian said he got a five-figure settlement for LeBoeuf with the Fall River Diocese.
Working to help fellow survivors
Today, LeBoeuf said he works to help survivors of sexual abuse through a support group called Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), with his chapter based out of Cumberland, Rhode Island.
“You never know how many people you help by doing this,” said Robert Hoatson, president and co-founder of Road to Recovery, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing counseling and other services to survivors of sexual abuse.
Hoatson said Road to Recovery and Garabedian work together on cases of clergy sexual abuse.
Taunton man reaches settlement with Diocese of Fall River
Garabedian and Lewis recently reached a five-figure settlement with the Fall River Diocese over the allegations involving Byington.
Lewis said he’s pleased with the settlement, but “its not about the money. It’s just paper to me.”
Lewis said he spoke out and spent several years in litigation because he doesn’t want any kids experiencing abuse to make the mistake he made of burying the memory and keeping quiet.
“The child could heal and continue their life, if gotten to early,” adding to call the police if you are being sexually abused.
Byington added to list of ‘credibly accused’
Byington was suspended by the ministry in January 2020 following allegations of sexual abuse from another victim, Richard Eldridge, also represented by Garabedian, the Fall River Herald News reported.
Eldridge said in November 2021 the abuse occurred in 1971, while he was a teenager and attending a Catholic retreat. He said Byington offered to drive him home, but instead brought him to the rectory of Sacred Heart Church in Taunton, where the sexual abuse occurred. Byington wasn’t assigned to that church at the time.
Though retired, Byington, at the time of the allegations, was still doing assignments and volunteer work with various parishes across the region.
Following a two-year review of all its records related to abuse and allegations of abuse — the result of which produced a list of names of 75 clergy members credibly and/or publicly accused of sexual abuse — the Fall River Diocese announced in late 2021 that it had banished Byington from the ministry.
Garabedian said a settlement agreement for Eldridge was reached with the Diocese.
Cities and towns where Byington worked
According to the Fall River Herald News, Byington was born in Fall River in 1939. He studied for and was ordained to the priesthood on Aug. 14, 1970.
The diocese previously said Byington served in the following parishes before retiring in 2006: St. John the Evangelist Parish in Attleboro; Sacred Heart Parish in Fall River; Sacred Heart Parish in Taunton; St. Patrick Parish in Fall River; St. Paul Parish in Taunton; St. George Parish in Westport; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Seekonk; Sacred Heart Parish in Fall River; St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis; and St. Thomas More Parish in Somerset.
Garabedian said he is currently working on “quite a few” suits and settlements regarding other allegations of sexual abuse with the Fall River diocese.