BALTIMORE (MD)
WBFF - Fox 45 [Baltimore MD]
November 5, 2026
A former Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young boy at Gilman School in Baltimore more than four decades ago.
Laurence LaPointe, an 81-year-old man from Putnam, Connecticut, admitted in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Nov. 4, 2026, to a fourth-degree sex offense and common-law assault after an investigation by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Judge Charles H. Dorsey III sentenced LaPointe to three years in prison, fully suspended and five years of supervised probation.
The probation order requires LaPointe to have no direct contact with minors under 18, prohibits him from working or volunteering in any educational setting with children, bars him from contacting the victim and mandates a psychosexual evaluation with any treatment recommended.
During the mid-1970s, LaPointe was a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Norwich assigned as a chaplain and religion teacher at Gilman School. The court heard that LaPointe met the boy, who was a middle school student at the time and invited him to LaPointe’s on-campus apartment to play chess. In 1976 or 1977, LaPointe convinced the child to play “strip chess” and then sexually abused him. Prosecutors said LaPointe told the victim that what happened was “a special thing between the two of them” and instructed him not to tell anyone.
The victim attended court for the sentencing hearing and gave a statement about the decades-long impact of the abuse and his reasons for coming forward. “My desire for privacy could no longer outweigh my desire to see him held accountable,” the victim said.
He also told the court, “I hope his admission of guilt today marks the beginning of a much larger process of honesty and accountability. I hope he will find the courage to acknowledge any other misconduct, voluntarily and fully, without requiring other victims to endure years of investigation, the prospect of a trial and the emotional burden of having to prove what happened to them. If there are others and if he has even an ounce of dignity left in him or perhaps a shred of that original purpose that led him to the seminary, then he owes them that truth.”
“Today, finally, after nearly fifty years, the heavy burden of his actions and the lasting harm he has caused, passes from me to its rightful place. From this day forward, it is Laurence LaPointe’s obligation to bear the weight of what he did to an innocent child,” the victim said.
Judge Dorsey offered words of empathy, telling the victim he hoped the memories would “no longer hold you in bondage.”
Attorney General Anthony G. Brown thanked his Criminal Division team, investigators and witnesses, especially the victim, for their role in prosecuting the case. “Those who were sexually assaulted as children continue to carry the burden of that trauma long after they reach adulthood,” Brown said. “No matter how much time passes, we will help lift that weight off survivors’ shoulders and hold accountable anyone who abuses a position of trust to inflict such devastating harm on our children.”