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  Priest's 1994 Letter Expresses Remorse
Gay 'Sexaddict' Blames Himself for Suicide by One of His Victims

By Dina Gerdeman
Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)
December 4, 2002

A priest who worked in Whitman, Canton and Milton parishes from 1970 to 1991 told church officials that a boy he abused killed himself, according to documents released yesterday.

The Rev. Peter Frost, a recovering alcoholic who was removed from active ministry in 1992, admitted to sexually abusing boys as far back as 1969, when he was a deacon.

In a handwritten, five-page letter to Cardinal Bernard Law in April 1994, the Rev. Frost said he had been abused as a 10-year-old. He told Cardinal Law he was gay and a "sex addict," and expressed shame for the pain he caused his victims.

"I cannot remove from my memory that one of my victims committed suicide because I would not give him an answer to his question, 'How do I accept my homosexuality?' You see, I hated my homosexuality and did all I could to show I was not gay. I became an active homophobic and hated all gays, myself included," the Rev. Frost wrote in the letter.

The Rev. Frost, now 62, was assigned to Holy Ghost Church in Whitman in 1970. In 1974, the church terminated his position there and put him on sick leave. He later served at St. Gerard Majella Church in Canton, and was reassigned to St. Elizabeth's Church in Milton in 1988. In 1991, he was terminated from St. Elizabeth's and sent to St. Anne's Church in Readville, but a year later he was placed on sick leave and has not returned to work in a church.

While he was being moved from parish to parish, it appears allegations of abuse were being made against him. In a letter to Bishop Thomas Daily in 1976, an unidentified writer urged the bishop to set up a meeting to discuss allegations.

"I don't want to destroy him, all I want is for him to stay away from (an unidentified person) permanently. I also believe that some effort should be made to verify Father Frost's overnight visits (to an unidentified person's) apartment," the letter stated.

Church documents show that the Rev. Frost was accused in 1994 of molesting two boys, ages 13 and 14, once in 1969 and another time in 1978. He admitted to the allegations and expressed "great shame and empathy for the victims," records show.

"There have been days that I wished the Lord would let me die and then I could cause no more problems," he wrote.

He also said he was an alcoholic and was assessed as having "compulsive sexuality."

The Rev. Frost wrote in September 1993 letter that, while receiving treatment at a halfway house, he did not trust adult men with authority over him.

"My fear and mistrust have kept me in a fighting mode and always ready to protect myself so that I am not abused again," he wrote.

When the Rev. Frost was removed from ministry work, he became angry at church officials. "I feel I am a leper in the priestly community," he wrote in a letter to Cardinal Law. "I have felt the love and care from my 12-step groups, but not from the church, and for that I am sorry."

The Rev. Frost entered treatment programs and lived at home to care for his elderly mother, working part time at Staples. He wrote a letter to his family telling them he is gay and that he would not be returning to the ministry. But in April 1999, he received hope from Cardinal Law that he might "return to an appropriate ministry."

 
 

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