BishopAccountability.org
	Trial of Priest at Center of Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal Set to Begin By Denise Lavoie The Associated Press, carried in Telegram & Gazette [Cambridge MA] January 16, 2005 CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— He's 73 now, and unrecognizable as the hip "street priest" known more than 30 years ago for wearing long hair and blue jeans, and reaching out to Boston's troubled youth. Paul Shanley is a senior citizen now, frail-looking with thinning white hair and deep lines in his face. His has become perhaps the most recognizable face of the clergy sexual abuse crisis that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church for the past three years. This week, Shanley goes on trial on child rape charges in one of a handful of criminal cases in which prosecutors have been able to bring against priests accused of sexually abusing children decades ago. Most of the priests accused in civil lawsuits have avoided criminal prosecution because the alleged crimes were committed so long ago that charges were barred by the statute of limitations. But because Shanley moved out of Massachusetts, the clock stopped, allowing prosecutors to arrest Shanley in May 2002 for sexual abuse that allegedly took place between 1979 and 1989. Shanley became one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sex scandal after internal church documents were released showing church officials knew about abuse complaints against him as early as 1967 and knew that he advocated sex between men and boys, yet they continued to transfer him from parish to parish. Prosecutors started out with four alleged victims in the criminal case. All four men said they were sexually abused by Shanley at St. Jean's parish in Newton when they were children. They told similar stories of being taken out of religious education classes and raped by Shanley, in the church rectory, confessional and restroom. But prosecutors dropped two of the alleged victims from the case and plan to drop a third before trial, leaving only one accuser in the case. Shanley's lawyer, Frank Mondano, has made it clear he will argue that the man made up his story of abuse to win a monetary award in a civil lawsuit. The man, along with the other three victims originally in the criminal case, settled civil lawsuits with the Boston Archdiocese in April 2004. The exact monetary terms were not disclosed, but an attorney for the men has said each received more than $300,000. That was the maximum settlement received by 550 other alleged abuse victims received in an $85 million settlement reached with the archdiocese in September 2003. Prosecutors have asked Judge Stephen Neel to bar Shanley's defense from introducing evidence of the civil settlement. The judge has not yet ruled on the request. Shanley's defense also plans to challenge the man's claims of repressed memories. The man said he did not remember the abuse until after the clergy scandal erupted in Boston three years ago. Mondano plans to call Elizabeth Loftus, a well-known psychologist who has challenged the reliability of recovered memory, to testify at the trial. J.W. Carney Jr., a former prosecutor who is now a Boston defense attorney, said it will be difficult for prosecutors to overcome a general skepticism about repressed memories. "The whole theory of repressed memory is quite dubious," he said. "It lacks fundamental scientific support. It also is counterintuitive to what jurors' own experiences have been. Even though we might forget details of traumatic things we've been through, we do not completely forget the traumatic experience itself." The notoriety of the clergy scandal and Shanley's own notoriety may make picking a jury difficult. Neel has set aside four days for jury selection, beginning Tuesday. "This is one of those cases where it will be next to impossible to find a jury that hasn't heard about it," said David Yas, editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. "It will be a very delicate situation in choosing jurors because they will be colored by the reports they've seen in the past. These potential jurors, most of them, have seen Paul Shanley's face on the news ... and it's hard to think that many potential jurors won't presume him guilty." The defense has asked the judge to instruct the jury that there have been no other judicial rulings against Shanley. But Assistant District Attorney Lynn Rooney has objected, citing the money the Boston Archdiocese paid to settle civil lawsuits in which Shanley was accused of sexual abuse. She also note that he was defrocked by the Vatican in February 2004. Neel said he was inclined to give the jury a general direction not to speculate about whether there are other cases against Shanley. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.