BishopAccountability.org
	Report: Archdiocese Mishandled Sex Abuse Case Probe By Tom Mashberg June 16, 2004 A children's rights group issued a scathing report yesterday accusing the Archdiocese of Boston of bungling its internal probe into a high-profile sexual abuse case. The case of Paul R. Edwards, then of Winchendon, against Monsignor Michael Smith Foster, a judicial vicar for the archdiocese, gained notoriety in 2002.The church exonerated Foster of molesting Edwards in his parish bedroom at Sacred Heart Church in Newton between 1980 and 1985. The report, by the Victims' Rights Committee, found that the archdiocese sided with Foster based on a public relations campaign attacking Edwards' credibility and that it "did not interview all relevant witnesses." The committee said in doing so the archdiocese violated the policies and procedures the Catholic Church established in the midst of the 2002 sexual abuse scandal. "The significant violations of policy we documented are in striking contrast to the church's own public statements that they are meeting their obligation to provide justice in these cases," said Jetta Bernier, executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children and an author of the report. Among the report's findings: ** The church interviewed only three witnesses in the case, and accepted on faith statements attacking Edwards' credibility from numerous supporters of Foster. Among the statements was an affidavit from the Rev. Edwin "Ned" Cassem, a psychologist and Jesuit priest, calling Edwards a "psychopath" and "a threat (to Foster's) personal safety." Cassem never met Edwards and based his report on information provided by Foster's attorneys. Cassem also acknowledged being a good friend of Foster. ** The church closed its first probe of Foster without interviewing Edwards. It closed its second probe even after Foster admitted having Edwards in his rectory bedroom in violation of church policy. ** The church did not "objectively assess Edwards' credibility" regarding Edwards' separate allegation that he was raped by the Rev. William Cummings. Edwards was awarded a cash settlement over his Cummings allegations. The report says the church declined to cooperate in the review. The Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said: "We really are not going to respond to the report other than to say there's nothing new."
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