Alleged Victim of Catholic Priest Brave to Speak out

Seacoast Online
February 15, 2017

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20170215/alleged-victim-of-catholic-priest-brave-to-speak-out

Seabrook, New Hampshire resident Keith Townsend shows great bravery in sharing his story about allegations of sexual abuse against a former Catholic priest.

Townsend said he thought Paquin was going to be in jail for life for past convictions and was stunned when he was released from jail after raping an altar boy and said "no one is safe" if Paquin, now 74, is free. Paquin, formerly of the Boston archdiocese, served prison time for abusing an altar boy from 1989 to 1992 while serving as associate pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He pleaded guilty to charges in relation to those crimes in 2002 and was released in 2015.

So, Townsend, now 42, is one accuser who went to police and a subsequent investigation has led to Paquin facing 29 new indictments for sexual abuse of young boys. A York County Grand Jury handed down the indictments last week.

Townsend, who said he was molested by Paquin approximately between the ages of 8 and 13 during trips to a camp in Kennebunkport, didn't stop there. He told his story to the Boston Globe and Seacoast Media Group this week. Townsend said he was one of about 10 other young boys abused together and explained in great detail how Paquin gave them alcohol and let them drive his vehicle and gradually started touching them before eventually raping them while the boys were drunk and alone and he remained sober.