Manchester Union Leader
March 4, 2003

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The Attorney General's Office said it could not press charges against the Manchester diocese for their handling of complaints against Rev. Raymond Laferriere. Investigators concluded there was no child endangerment statute at the time Laferriere, now 72, allegedly assaulted altar boys at St. Patrick Church in Milford and St. Augustine Parish in Manchester.

In 1959, the diocese was told by a Catholic psychiatrist at St. Mary Seminary in Maryland that Laferriere had "incipient schizophrenia with homosexual overtones." But after counseling, the priest was ordained in 1960, and served in various New Hampshire parishes until his retirement in 1995.

The Catholic Diocese of Manchester received a complaint in 1963 that Laferriere invited two boys from Manchester Central High School to his rectory room at St. Augustine, where he had pornographic materials on the walls. The church took no action against the priest.

Other allegations against Laferriere, including fondling and attempted oral sex, were not brought to the diocese until after Laferriere retired and was removed from ministry.