We Won't Be Charging Lynn Priest

By Cyrus Moulton
Daily Item
September 16, 2013

http://www.itemlive.com/news/da-we-won-t-be-charging-lynn-priest/article_5ebe1c06-1ee5-11e3-ac28-0019bb2963f4.html

The Office of Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said it is not charging The Rev. James Gaudreau, longtime pastor at St. Joseph’s Parish, after a year-long investigation into a child sexual abuse allegation.

“I thank God and His Blessed Mother for this day of deliverance, and I thank all those parishioners of St. Joseph’s Parish and others who stood by me and prayed for me during this long ordeal,” Gaudreau said Sunday in a statement through his attorney.

Gaudreau has been at St. Joseph’s Parish since 1984 and its pastor since 1993. He was placed on administrative leave in September 2012 after the Archdiocese of Boston received an allegation that Gaudreau had sexually abused a teenager in 2006.

Several parishioners said they were shocked at the allegation and believed that it was motivated by revenge or greed against the longtime pastor, who parishioners said could be stern and sometimes confrontational.

The archdiocese announced at the time that it was conducting its own investigation into the allegation, and said Monday that investigation is continuing.

Gaudreau’s attorney, Frank L. McNamara Jr., said he hoped the Archdiocese would quickly conclude its investigation and clear Gaudreau of the allegation.

The Daily Item is working on this story and will have more details as they become available.