SEX ABUSE CRISIS RAGES IN VERMONT - Mark P. Loftus

The story that just won’t go away.

Various news agencies carried stories on Friday about the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal that is currently rocking Vermont. In May, a jury heard allegations from a former Vermont altar boy that he was abused repeatedly by Rev. Edward Paquette in the 1970s. The jury awarded the plaintiff, now in his 40’s, $8.7 million dollars. The defendant, Fr. Paquette, had admitted in a 2006 deposition that he had been “sexually involved” with young boys at parishese in Indiana and Massachusetts before he applying for a position with the Burlington, Vermont Diocese in 1972. At the time, Fr. Paquette indicated he wanted to be closer to his parents, who lived in Massachusetts.
When Paquette applied for the Vermont position, Bishop Loe Pursley of the Fort Waye, Indiana Diocese advised Vermont Bishop John Marshall that Paquette had been accused of molesting young boys. Pursley further suggested that if the Vermont Diocese decided to take Paquette, he should be assigned to an institutional chaplaincy or a senior center, so he wouldn’t be around children. [Documents reflecting Pursley’s concerns were admitted as evidence in the trial] The Vermont Diocese however, elected to ignore that warning and assigned him to three parishes in Vermont. Paquette was subsequently accused of abusing children at each of those three parishes.
According to the victim in the recent trial, Paquette liked giving “pony rides” to the altar boys after mass. He would grope his young victims during the rides. The victim testified he was abused some 40-100 times. The victim had kept quiet for years, but decided to come forward after learning of Paquette’s history and the warnings from the Indiana Diocese.
Church officials have defended their handling of abuse claims in the 1970s by claiming that at the time, it was believed that prayer and counseling would cure priests of their attraction to little boys. It is not made clear who exactly thought that prayer would cure these perverts.
In another pathetic development, the Vermont Diocese is claiming that the verdict is covered by insurance…but they just can’t find the policy. No doubt they could find all kind of ancient documents damning divorce for example, but they misplaced the policy covering them for abusing children.
In yet another pathetic development, it was revealed that the Diocese had put each individual parish under charitable trusts two years ago, to shield them from what Bishop Salvatore Matano called “unbridled, unjust and terribly unreasonable assault.” So the Church has elected to blame not the twisted individuals who preyed upon children, but the persons who are now seeking recovery for years of abuse.
At least three additional lawsuits are scheduled to begin in August.