BishopAccountability.org
	Abuse Case Settled; Next Steps Important Burlington Free Press [Vermont] April 22, 2006 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/OPINION/604220318/1006&theme= No amount of money can make up for a person's lost childhood. The best that can be done is to offer some sense of justice. Perhaps a settlement announced Wednesday between Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese and a South Burlington man will bring a sense of justice to the former altar boy. Perhaps some peace will come. Michael Gay, now 38 and married, had brought a lawsuit against the diocese on allegations it allowed former Rev. Edward Paquette, a priest with a history of child abuse, to continue to molest altar boys in Burlington, according to a Free Press story. "He took away something very important to me -- my childhood, my faith in God and religion," Gay was quoted as saying after the announcement of the settlement. Gay had been prepared to walk through the painful allegations in a courtroom in Chittenden Superior Court. But the diocese chose to avoid a costly trial and agreed to settle the lawsuit for $965,000, the largest such settlement in the diocese's history, the Free Press story said. Gay was brave to come forward. He was brave to speak out and let his name be published. The Free Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse without their consent.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.