Trial Begins for Priest Accused of Molestation
A former Roman Catholic priest who has been accused of molesting more than 130 people went on trial for allegedly abusing a 10-year-old boy.
John Geoghan, 66, is charged with committing indecent assault and battery on a person younger than 14 when he was a priest at St. Julia’s Parish in Weston. Prosecutors say Geoghan put his hands down the boy’s swimming trunks in 1991.
Jury selection began and prosecutors expect the trial to take less than a week. If found guilty, Geoghan faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Geoghan, who was defrocked in 1998, faces 84 civil lawsuits. More than 130 people have claimed he fondled or raped them.
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