BishopAccountability.org
	Jury Selection Completed for Shanley Trial The Associated Press, carried in Herald Tribune [Cambridge MA] January 20, 2005 CAMBRIDGE, Mass. A jury of eight men and eight women will hear the child rape case against former Catholic priest Paul Shanley, one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sex abuse scandal. Jury selection was completed Thursday afternoon and the 12 regular jurors and four alternates will hear opening statements from the lawyers on Monday in Middlesex Superior Court. Shanley, 73, is accused of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. The alleged victim, now 27, says Shanley raped him repeatedly at St. Jean's parish in Newton between 1983 and 1989, beginning when he was 6 years old. Shanley, once a long-haired priest in blue jeans who reached out to Boston's troubled youth, was defrocked by the Vatican last year. His lawyer, Frank Mondano, has said he will argue that the accuser made up his story to win a monetary award in a civil lawsuit. Charges related to three other alleged victims have been dropped by prosecutors. Internal church documents showed church officials knew about allegations against Shanley as early as 1967 yet continued to transfer him from parish to parish.