February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, who is now 74, was convicted of indecently assaulting and raping the boy while he served as a parish priest and pastor at St. Jean’s Church in Newton in the 1980s.
The alleged victim, who is now a Newton firefighter, wept softly with his head down when the verdict was announced. Now 27, he had broken down several times on the witness stand during graphic testimony about how Shanley had allegedly performed oral sex on him and digitally raped him after taking him out of catechism class.
Shanley, who had become a media celebrity in the late 1970s for his work with alienated youth on the streets of Boston, stood stone-faced as the verdict was announced, a demeanor he had maintained through most of the trial. He was led away by court officers after his bail was revoked.
Shanley’s lawyer, Frank Mondano, told reporters that justice had not been served by the verdict. He had told jurors in his closing argument last week that the case was based upon “the myth” of repressed memory and that the accuser was motivated by money, having received $500,000 in a civil case against the Archdiocese of Boston.
“It appears that the absence of a case is not an impediment to securing a conviction,” he said as he walked away from the courthouse Monday afternoon.
But the jurors, who had deliberated for over 14 hours, were evidently swayed by prosecutor Lynn Rooney’s argument that the accuser had already received the monetary settlement and was motivated only by a desire for justice.
About 25 men have accused Shanley of having molested them as young boys, teenagers or young adults. Several men have publicly claimed that Shanley raped them after they went to him for counseling around issues of sexual orientation.
One of those men, 47-year-old John Harris of Norwood told reporters after the verdict was announced that he and other alleged victims “had to count on this case for our own justice since our cases couldn’t be brought to court because of the statute of limitations.”
The Archdiocese issued a statement Monday afternoon after Shanley was convicted.
“It is important for the Archdiocese of Boston . . . to again apologize for the crimes and harm perpetrated against children by priests who held the trust and esteem of families and the community,” the statement said.
Shanley, who faces up to life in prison, will be sentenced on Feb. 15.