Paul Shanley, the notorious Newton priest in the Catholic sex abuse scandal, is scheduled to get out of prison as early as this week after serving 12 years behind bars for raping a Newton child multiple times, over multiple years, in the early 1980s while at St. Jean’s Church.
The TAB did some terrific coverage of this horrific story but unfortunately it does not seem to be available through its archive.
(There is this column by Jackie Sequeira, who deserves our respect for being the whistle blower no one wanted to believe.)
This is heartbreaking. Statistically speaking the recidivism rate for individuals who commit this crime is significant. We have a strong network of providers in Massachusetts to support survivors. (www.machildrensalliance.org and http://www.barcc.org to name a few.) I am in awe of the individuals who found the strength to speak out and tell their story.
Very distressing news for former St. Jean’s parishioners.
Thank you for including the piece on Jackie Gauvreau. It could have been a separate thread answering “A really bad man is getting out of prison” with “A really good woman put him there”. Jackie has suffered a lot because of scepticism that her pursuit of Schanley was valid. It would be great if she finally got the emotional, logistical, and even financial support that she deserves for her heroism.
By the way, if Schanley is not a “sexually dangerous person” under the current definition of the law, the law needs to be changed. A person who preyed on many children for years under the guise of clerical status is the very prototype of the kind of person that society needs protection from for as long as he lives.
Councilor Yates: I share your view that Jackie Gauvreau deserves credit for her courage but financial support? I’m not following that. Certainly your not suggesting she did what she did for financial gain so what are you suggesting?
@Greg – I assumed Councilor Yates was saying that she’d suffered financially, due to the reactions of people to her accusations. We consider her a hero now, but it’s important to remember the reactions to her back then, which were nasty (to say the least).
Thanks mgwa
mgwa has got it absolutely right. Jackie’s campaign to bring Shanley to justice made her unemployable for over thirty years because some people distrusted her accusations and others just found her too controversial to employ in a position of public conduct. Despite her previously stellar work record, her denunciations of Shanley reduced her to poverty. There are people other than victims who enriched themselves significantly as a result of the Shanley and other cases that she helped bring about. Jackie never asked for reward for her courage, but people who know she deserved one never shared even a portion of their proceeds from the cases.