FALL RIVER (MA)
Wicked Local Falmouth
Brian Fraga
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted May. 12, 2014
FALL RIVER — A lawsuit has been filed in Connecticut that accuses the Diocese of Fall River and its former bishop, Daniel Cronin, of failing to prevent a priest from sexually abusing two boys who were altar servers on Cape Cod for almost decade.
The alleged predator-priest — Monsignor Maurice Souza — died in August 1996 at age 83. The lawsuit accuses Souza of sexually assaulting the victims from the time they were approximately 9 and 10 years old to when both were 17 years of age. Both alleged victims met Souza when he was the pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in East Falmouth.
The lawsuit, which was filed Jan. 4 and seeks monetary compensatory damages, says the boys were taken to Connecticut and Massachusetts for athletic events and other activities, and that they were sexually abused in both states by Souza from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. The lawsuit says the victims spent nights with Souza in hotel rooms, a church rectory and Souza’s residence in Taunton.
The lawsuit also alleges that Souza would provide “awards and inducements” to the plaintiffs, and that if they refused his advances, Souza would threaten to replace them with another “travel companion” to whom he would provide gifts and rewards.
The lawsuit says Souza also made disparaging and derogatory remarks about one plaintiff’s intelligence, athleticism and academic prowess.
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