DAs given names of 49 more priests
The Boston Archdiocese late Thursday turned over to
authorities the names of
49 priests it says have been accused of sexual abuse
of children, bringing
the number of priests whom the church has named to as
many as 87, in
referrals to prosecutors in the past eight days.
Officials at the six district attorneys' offices in
the archdiocese said
that they had received the second group of names from
the Rogers Law Firm,
which represents the archdiocese. In its first mailing
to the prosecutors on
Jan. 30, the firm provided the names of 38 priests
against whom allegations
had been lodged, officials at the district
attorneys' offices said.
The archdiocese made no public announcement Thursday of
its release to
prosecutors of the names of the second group of priests. Donna
M. Morrissey,
the archdiocese's spokeswoman, did not return phone calls
yesterday seeking
clarification on why the church did not release the
information earlier, or
on how the lists were prepared.
Prosecutors said last week that the names of some priests
may have been
given to more than one district attorney's office, which could
eventually
make the total number of accused priests fewer than
87.
On his return yesterday from a weeklong visit to the
Vatican, Cardinal
Bernard F. Law, speaking with reporters at Logan
International Airport, made
reference to the process that the archdiocese
used to identify the priests,
as well as to its removal of eight priests from
active duty in the past
week.
''I'm aware of the ongoing review of our records and
saddened by the fact
that there's some individuals that needed to be removed
that had not been,''
Law said. The cardinal added that the records go back 40
years and said they
are being ''combed and combed again.''
The two sets of letters represent the first time that the
archdiocese has
notified authorities of allegations of sexual abuse by
priests. In the past,
the allegations had been handled privately; if the
charges were found to be
legitimate, the victim received a cash settlement
from the church and the
offending priest was sent for counseling or placed on
sick leave.
However, Law changed that reporting policy last month
after the Globe
Spotlight Team reported that he had assigned a priest, John
J. Geoghan, to a
parish, knowing Geoghan had molested children in the past.
In a later
report, the newspaper reported that the archdiocese had settled
sexual
molestation claims against at least 70 priests during the past 10
years.
It is not known how many priests whose names have been
provided to
authorities had settlements against them. However, one individual
who
assisted the archdiocese in preparing the letters said the names of
the
eight priests who were removed recently from parishes are among the names
on
the letters sent to the prosecutors.
Since the lists do not include the names of the victims of
the alleged
assaults, officials in the six prosecutors' offices said they
have asked the
archdiocese for more information on the cases.
Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said in an
interview Thursday
night that she was awaiting further information, before
launching an
investigation into any of the cases. Since many of the abuses
allegedly
occurred more than 10 years ago, which is the statute of
limitations for
rape of an individual who was under 16, bringing an
indictment will be
difficult, Coakley said.
Michael Rezendes and Matt Carroll of the Globe Staff contributed to this story.
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 2/9/2002.
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Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper
Company.