| 16 weeks 3 days 17 hours ago Former altar boy says Diocese to blame for sex abuse
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(Anya Huneke, NECN: Burlington, VT) - A former altar boy is suing Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese. He says he was molested by a priest and he believes the Diocese is to blame.
NECN's Anya Huneke explains.
Script:
Jerry O'Neill: "We are suing the diocese because it refuses to accept any responsibility..."
In his opening statement, attorney Jerry O'Neill listed a number of reasons Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese should be held accountable for what happened to his client three decades ago.
Jerry O'Neill: "We're suing the Diocese because it decided to protect priests, rather than protect children."
The victim, who is now 40 and lives in Colorado, claims a Vermont priest, Reverend Edward Paquette, molested him repeatedly when he was an alter boy at Christ the King Parish in Burlington in the 1970s. He also claims the Diocese hired Paquette knowing he had a history of pedophilia, and did not remove him when he continued molesting boys in Vermont.
Jerry: "The Diocese enabled a known child-molester to be exactly where he wanted to be: with boys so he could molest them."
This is one of 32 priest abuse lawsuits filed in Chittenden County Superior Court- 19 of which involve Paquette. It's the second to go to trial. The Diocese doesn't deny the abuse by Paquette, but says its response to the abuse should not be oversimplified. Attorney Kaveh Shahi says it was a different time back then and child abuse was viewed through a
different lens.
Kaveh Shahi: "These events happened 30 to 40 years ago, and over that time, we've grown more understanding and sensitive of that issue."
Shahi says the Diocese followed the advise of mental health experts, who believed Paquette's issues could be addressed through treatment. He also says, too much time has passed since the molestation occurred for the case to be tried fairly.
As soon as the first witness - Monsignor John McSweeney - took the stand, attorney O'Neill began presenting evidence of what he believes is a strong case: documents from Paquette's former Diocese in Indiana, indicating Paquette could be a future danger to children.
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