In 1998, Benzevich told reporters he was branded as a troublemaker for reporting Geoghan, and that church officials hinted that he might be sent to Peru if he persisted. "I froze up," McSorley said. Wilson D. Rogers Jr., the cardinals attorney, defended the move last summer, saying the archdiocese had medical assurances that each Geoghan reassignment was appropriate and safe.. Almost immediately, Geoghan was working with First Communicants, befriending young children and their parents, even taking some boys to his family's summer home in Scituate, where - parents say they later discovered - he sexually abused the youths. [9], After initially agreeing to a $30 million settlement with 86 of Geoghan's victims, the Boston archdiocese pulled out of it, finally settling with them for $10 million.[10]. Inquiry: Druce beaten as child, September 20 . The churchs financial liability in the pending suits could increase dramatically if there is evidence Geoghans superiors knew of his abuse. The few who complained were invariably urged to keep silent. And pastors and bishops, meanwhile, viewed the abuse as a sin for which priests could repent rather than as a compulsion they might be unable to control. So DArcy expressed concern about further scandal in this parish. If something happens, parishioners will feel that the archdiocese simply sends them priests with problems.. When a Globe reporter went to see him recently, he slammed the door shut as soon as Geoghan's name was mentioned. Born in Canton, Ohio in 1924, Joe served our country as a medic while in the Philippines. Bias concerns raised in probe, September 2 In 1981, after a year's sick leave, Geoghan was dispatched to St. Brendan's in Dorchester, with little chance he would be placed under scrutiny: His pastor for most of his 3 years there, the Rev. Nicholas Driscoll, who confirmed last week that he had been removed from St. Julia's before Geoghan's arrival - but for alcohol and depression problems, not sexual abuse. The judge refused. Druce pleads not guilty in slay Then, under oath, Benzevich changed his story. Then she met Geoghan, who oversaw altar boys and Boy Scouts at the parish. No responsible clinician would have said it was safe to transfer him to another parish in light of what the church knew about his pattern of deviant behavior, MacLeish said. During his assignment in Hingham, Geoghan found victims far afield, befriending Joanne Mueller, a single mother of four boys who lived in Melrose. Intending to become a priest, he attended Cardinal O'Connell Seminary. He was a seminarian for Down and Connor. image3on.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/nav_jan23/scandal_on.gif"; spotlight@globe.com. Thomas confronted Geoghan with the allegations, and was taken aback when Geoghan casually admitted they were accurate. "I'll say the Mass myself," Daily insisted. Geoghan was convicted of sexual abuse, laicized, and sentenced in 2002 to nine to ten years in Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security prison. The house sat vacant for some time until Loney bought it this year. The letters from Bishop DArcy and Margaret Gallant were among documents found by the Globe during a review of the public files of 84 civil lawsuits still pending against Geoghan. Im not exactly sure what the script said, Carroll said. If Mueller had unwittingly facilitated Geoghan's access to the children in her home in Melrose, the same role was played by Maryetta Dussourd at the priest's next stop: St. Andrew's, in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, where he served from 1974 to 1980. John J. Geoghan, the Boston Herald reported . Before long, he was visiting her apartment almost every evening - for nearly two years. }Customer Service. Thomas, who is now retired, declined to be interviewed. Geoghan was eventually convicted of a single count of molesting a boy at a public swimming pool and later murdered by his prison cellmate. I think between her illness and what happened with John, [Catherine] kind of became a recluse, Loney said. After two more years and more allegations of sexual abuse, Geoghan's tenure at St. Brendan's came to an abrupt end in 1984, when Lane heard complaints that Geoghan had molested children in the parish. #ada-button-frame { "[3] Psychiatrists concluded that Geoghan had "atypical pedophilia in remission" and a "mixed personality disorder with obsessive-compulsive, histrionic and narcissistic features" but decided he could be safely reassigned. Three years later, Geoghan was still seeking out victims, allegedly including an altar boy donning vestments for a christening ceremony, according to the criminal charges. [12] The press raised questions about prison officials' judgment in placing these two men in the same unit for protective custody. image13off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/archives_off.gif"; Banks was concerned about the conclusions of the institute's discharge summary. On Dec. 17, Rogers sent the Globes attorney, Jonathan M. Albano, a letter threatening to seek legal sanctions against the newspaper and its law firm if the Globe published anything gleaned from confidential records in the suits. Despite his record, Geoghan was assigned to St. Julia's. The uncle ordered Geoghan to leave his house, and complained to the priest's superiors at St. Paul's. Aware of Geoghan record, archdiocese still shuttled him from parish to parish. image1off.src = "http://cache.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/images/universal/newnav/home_off.gif"; [18] He retired in 2003, having reached the church's mandatory retirement age of 75 years. Geoghan was buried in Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts, on August 28, 2003. In his own defense last summer, Law wrote in the Pilot, the archdiocesan newspaper, Never was there an effort on my part to shift a problem from one place to the next., The cardinals assertion followed his disclosure, in court documents, that he was informed in September 1984 of the four-year-old allegations that Geoghan had molested the seven Jamaica Plain boys. The legal response by the cardinal, narrowly drawn in response to the lawsuit against him, omits any reference to Geoghans molestation of children at St. Brendans in Dorchester. Until recent years, the church also had little to fear from the courts. Despite his record, Geoghan was assigned to St. Julias. ukraine russia border live camera /; June 24, 2022 Morrissey said the church had no interest in knowing what the Globes questions would be. In 1982 the family of seven of Geoghan's victims complained to Bishop Daily that Geoghan had arranged to meet one of his victims at an ice cream shop in Jamaica Plain and was at the time in the company of another boy. if (document.images) { // --> ", A copy of the letter contains a redacted paragraph, an apparent reference to the Rev. Members of the Boston Globes Spotlight speak out about breaking the church abuse scandal story. The pending lawsuits include accusations that Geoghan again abused young boys from several families in his next parish, St. Paul's in Hingham, between 1967 and 1974. One of Geoghan's closest associates on the unit in Concord was Lewis S. Lent Jr., who is serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of 12-year-old Jimmy Bernardo of Pittsfield. Druce said that he had twice before confronted Geoghan about his molestation charges, and described Geoghan's responses as "arrogant." Finally, in 1998, the church defrocked Geoghan, removing him from the priesthood. Donna Morrissey, a spokeswoman for Law, said the cardinal and other church officials would not respond to questions about Geoghan. } Regardless of what he says, or the doctor who treated him, I do not believe he is cured; his actions strongly suggest that he is not, and there is no guarantee that persons with these obsessions are ever cured, Margaret Gallant said in her plea to Medeiros. Geoghan's first trial on sexual molestation charges is scheduled for Jan. 14 in Middlesex Superior Court. But Geoghan betrayed their trust and took advantage of their devotion and friendship, Sacco said. 146 John Geoghan Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images EDITORIAL All Entertainment News Archival Browse 146 john geoghan stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. image6off = new Image(); But all that time, Geoghan regularly molested the seven boys in their bedrooms, Dussourd said. father geoghan scituate. "The perfect substitute father," Geoghan said of his uncle, who would dress his young nephew in the vestments of a priest for festive neighborhood parades at the family's summer home in Scituate . An assessment in 1954 noted him as "markedly immature. [3] Instead, Geoghan was placed on sick leave on May 24 and, between August 10 to November 4, was treated at The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. } else { Never before have so many bishops had to defend their roles in a case involving sexual molestation charges against a single priest. It was the home of Father John J. Geoghan, a priest accused of sexually assaulting more than 130 boys. image10on = new Image(); Of the priests, few would speak publicly. Geoghan spent the following year on sick leave, under treatment for his compulsion, but living with family in West Roxbury. image15on = new Image(); Then he put his hand on my genitals and started masturbating me. "Do you realize what you're taking from him?" image14off = new Image(); This article was prepared by the Globe Spotlight Team: reporters Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer, and Michael Rezendes; and editor Walter V. Robinson. He fell from a priest's house wi dow and nearly died. image3on = new Image(); Archdiocesan records obtained by the Globe make it clear why Gallant wrote her irate letter two years after the abuse: Geoghan had reappeared in Jamaica Plain, and been seen with a young boy. Why is nothing being done?, RELATED: More coverage of the Spotlight report. It was the home of Father John J. Geoghan, a priest accused of sexually assaulting more than 130 boys. } And pastors and bishops, meanwhile, viewed the abuse as a sin for which priests could repent rather than as a compulsion they might be unable to control. That is because almost all the evidence in the lawsuits about the church's supervision of Geoghan has been under a court-ordered confidentiality seal granted to church lawyers.