VERMONT
Burlington Free Press
Trial involving priest abuse claim against state Catholic diocese set to start next week
Written by
Sam Hemingway
Free Press Staff Writer
The case of a man who claims that as a prospective Rutland altar boy he was molested by the Rev. Edward Paquette in the early 1970s is set to go to trial next week at U.S. District Court in Burlington.
The man, now a resident of California, says he was 12 years old when Paquette first fondled his genitals during an altar boy training session at Christ the King Church in Rutland, according to court documents. He said Paquette molested him two or three times altogether.
The man claims he did not make a connection between the alleged abuse and subsequent psychological problems until few years ago, court records state. The Burlington Free Press does not publish the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse without their permission.
The sole defendant in the case is the state’s Roman Catholic diocese. Lawyers for the alleged victim said in court papers they are targeting the diocese because it knew Paquette had molested altar boys in Indiana and Massachusetts but went ahead with hiring him in 1972 and assigning him to the Rutland church and accompanying church school.
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