New book alleges sex abuse, coverups by Springfield bishops

MASSACHUSETTS
MLive

By Ray Kelly rkelly@repub.com

“Death of an Altar Boy,” a new book exploring the unsolved 1972 murder of Danny Croteau, 13, of Springfield, paints a damning portrait of then Springfield bishop Christopher J. Weldon as man who obstructed justice and may have sexually abused a young boy in the 1950s.

Drawing on more than 10,000 pages of police and court records and interviews with Croteau’s family, friends, fellow abuse victims and church officials, author E.J. Fleming (“Tread Softly: Bullying and the Death of Phoebe Prince”) looks at the killing and the only publicly named suspect — Richard R. Lavigne, a since defrocked priest who has been the subject of claims from 40 alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Weldon is characterized as a “despotic ruler with connections to politicians, police and newspapermen,” who covered up sexual abuse by priests.

Fleming includes the accusations of Texas inmate William Burnett, who says his uncle, a priest, had molested him as a child and “handed him off to five other priests from 1950 through 1959.” One of the five was Weldon claimed Burnett, who is serving time for killing a man in a Houston motel. Burnett reportedly passed two polygraph tests regarding his accusations against Weldon.

“Death of an Altar Boy” alleges an unholy alliance between Weldon and then Hampden County District Attorney Matthew J. Ryan. It speculates that the DA did not pursue the Croteau murder at the urging of Weldon, who in exchange helped keep Ryan from facing political challengers.

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.