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	Ex-Priest Is Sentenced to 12 to 15 Years for Sex Abuse By Terence Neilan New York Times February 15, 2005 Paul R. Shanley, one of the few priests to face criminal charges in the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison today for repeatedly raping a boy in suburban Boston in the 1980's. "It is difficult to imagine a more egregious misuse of trust and authority," said Judge Stephen A. Neel. The defrocked Mr. Shanley, 74, who could spend the rest of his life behind bars, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He was convicted last week on two counts each of child rape and indecent assault battery of a child after the jury in the Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, Mass., deliberated for 15 hours. The prosecutor, Lynn Rooney, had recommended a life sentence. Mr. Shanley will be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence, when he will begin serving 10 years' probation. The prosecution rested its case solely on one accuser, who said he had repressed the memory of the abuse until reading a newspaper article about Mr. Shanley three years ago. The case had started with allegations from four accusers, at least three of whom were friends and classmates in a Sunday-morning catechism class at St. Jean's parish in Newton, Mass. But before the trial started, charges relating to three of the accusers were dropped. Midway through the trial the judge threw out a charge against Mr. Shanley of allegations that he forced the accuser to perform oral sex on him. Today Ms. Rooney read a statement from the accuser, now a 27-year-old firefighter in suburban Boston, saying: "I want him to die in prison. I hope it is slow and painful." The accuser's wife told Mr. Shanley in court that "no words can ever explain my disgust for you." Mr. Shanley's lawyer, Frank Mondano, asked Judge Neel to allow his client to serve his sentence in a country house of correction instead of prison. He also said the prosecution's case was built on "vilifications, half-truths and lies." Mr. Shanley had a colorful and controversial history as a long-haired priest in the 1970's who ministered to troubled youths and spoke in support of homosexuality. Church documents showed that church officials allowed him to remain a priest even though they knew he said had supported sex between men and boys. About two dozen people have accused Mr. Shanley of abuse, dating to the 1960's. Most of the allegations involved teenagers.
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