Convicted Former Priest Paul Shanley To Be Released From Prison

MASSACHUSETTS
WBUR

July 27, 2017
Kathleen McNerney
Meghna Chakrabarti

As early as Friday, one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sex abuse scandal could be released from prison.

Paul Shanley has spent the last 12 years in prison for raping a Sunday school student in the early 1980s. He was accused of sexually abusing roughly two dozen others over several decades.

Middlesex prosecutors had taken steps to try to get Shanley civilly committed indefinitely, but two doctors who assessed Shanley said he did not meet the legal criteria as a sexually dangerous person. Family members of Shanley’s alleged victims are upset at Shanley’s impending release.

We speak with two attorneys who disagree about whether Shanley should be back on the streets.

Guest

Eric Tennen, defense attorney specializing in sexual offenses. He tweets @Swomley_Tennen.

Mitchell Garabedian, attorney specializing in sexual abuse cases. He has represented several alleged victims of Paul Shanley. He tweets @migarabedian.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.