Jury Selection Begins in Abuse Case Against Priest

Jury selection began Tuesday in the criminal trial of defrocked Roman Catholic priest Paul Shanley, one of the most notorious figures in the Boston clerical sexual abuse scandal.

Shanley, 73, is charged with child rape, as well as indecent assault and assault and battery. The alleged crimes took place in the 1980s in nearby Newton, where Shanley was a popular parish priest.

The time frame of the alleged incidents is critical.

Scores of priests in the Boston archdiocese have been accused of molesting children over a period of at least four decades, and many of those charges were validated in documents maintained by the church. The once-confidential records showed that church officials knew about abuse complaints and moved priests from parish to parish rather than reassign them to jobs where they would not have to work with children

Most of the priests were named in civil lawsuits but managed to avoid criminal trials because the alleged crimes occurred so long ago that the statute of limitations had run out.

But Shanley moved from Massachusetts to California in 1990, stopping the clock on this state’s 15-year statute of limitations. He was arrested in San Diego in May 2002.

Hundreds of alleged abuse victims -- including many who said they were molested by Shanley -- reached an $85-million civil settlement with the Boston archdiocese in late 2003.

Sexual abuse allegations against Shanley date back at least to 1967, church records show. He has pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.

Shanley has been living for two years in the Cape Cod resort community of Provincetown. With his thinning white hair, he bore little resemblance in court Tuesday to the flamboyant “street priest” who roared around Boston on a motorcycle, ministering to troubled youths.

He was defrocked by the Vatican last year. Prosecutors built their case against Shanley on charges brought by four men who had taken religious education at the Newton parish where the priest served between 1979 and 1989. The men said they were raped by Shanley in the rectory, the confessional and the restroom.

But as the trial opened Tuesday, just one complainant remained. Two accusers dropped out after the proceedings dragged on for more than two years. A third disappeared after an aggressive day of questioning in pretrial hearings last year.

The sole remaining accuser, identified in court documents as Male No. 3, on Jan. 10 submitted a formal letter to many Boston media outlets asking that he not be named or photographed. The 27-year-old man wrote that he was recently married and had started a new career. He wrote that it would be “difficult if not impossible for me to go forward with the criminal trial if I am identified publicly.”

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Stephen Neel, who is presiding over the case, ordered that neither the accuser, his wife nor his father could be photographed during the trial.

Shanley’s lawyer, Frank Mondano, indicated that he would argue that the man had concocted his story to win a civil settlement.

Opening arguments in the trial, which is expected to last two weeks, are scheduled to begin Monday. If convicted, Shanley could face life in prison.