Lawyers quizzed potential jurors today in the trial of a defrocked Boston priest charged with sexually assaulting a 11-year-old boy in a pedophilia case that has shaken the Catholic Church in the United States.
More than 130 people accused John Geoghan, 66, of molesting them over a span of nearly three decades as his superiors in the Boston diocese moved him from parish to parish. Boston Cardinal Bernard Law and five bishops were accused of knowing about Geoghan's abuses and ignoring them.
The case led Law to make a remarkable apology last week for his failure to act in the face of evidence that Geoghan used his position to prey on children.
Families accused Geoghan of insinuating himself into their lives and then using his access to abuse children. In one family, Geoghan allegedly molested seven children.
Geoghan was being tried over accusations he put his hands down the bathing suit of an 11-year-old boy in 1991 when he was the priest at St Julia's parish in suburban Weston, Massachusetts. He was charged with indecent assault and battery on a person younger than 14. He faces 10 years in prison if convicted.
Geoghan was thrown out of the priesthood in 1998, but his case gained wide attention as trial dates in three criminal cases approached and as dozens of people filed civil cases against him. In recent years the Church has paid 10 million to settle about 50 civil cases against Geoghan. Eighty-four civil complaints remain outstanding.