Child Rape Charges Renewed Against Former Boston Priest

By ELIZABETH MEHREN

Aug. 31, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

BOSTON — A judge here has reinstated child rape charges against former priest John J. Geoghan, whose January trial on lesser charges set off a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.

In restoring charges that date from the early 1980s, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle reversed her ruling of nearly six months ago that prosecutors had waited too long to indict Geoghan on charges of fondling and orally raping a boy who was 7 to 10 years old. Hinkle offered no explanation for her unusual ruling, and prosecutors would not discuss the case.

Geoghan, 66, is serving a nine-to 10-year prison sentence for fondling a boy 10 years ago at a community swimming pool. His lawyer, Geoffrey Packard, vowed to appeal the ruling posted late Thursday on a court computer docket.

Documents published in the Boston Globe in conjunction with the Geoghan case revealed that church officials assigned the priest to work with children despite numerous abuse accusations against him. The Boston archdiocese had no comment Friday about the reinstatement of child rape charges against Geoghan, who also is named in at least 86 civil lawsuits.

Geoghan’s trial on the reinstated charges could begin as early as October.

Philip Saviano, director of the Massachusetts office of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, on Friday welcomed Hinkle’s decision to reinstate rape charges against Geoghan.

“The charges he was convicted on this past winter are relatively minor, and they do not at all represent the true nature of his crimes,” Saviano said. “So I am pleased that Hinkle has had a change of heart.”

He said the judge’s decision also “shows the issue is very much alive.” But as another judge on Friday expressed “significant concerns” about the credibility of sexual abuse allegations against two other priests, Saviano conceded that false accusations are a potential risk in a scandal that has grown so large.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney voiced her reservations after a lawyer representing an alleged abuse victim asked to withdraw from the case. In his motion, attorney Eric J. Parker said “issues arose central to the allegations” by his client, Paul Edwards, against Msgr. Michael Smith Foster and the late Father William J. Cummings.

Parker, who did not specify in his motion what the issues were, was not available for comment. His withdrawal from the case could result in dismissal of charges against Foster, 47, who was placed on leave after Edwards filed suit against him.

Father Robert Bullock, chairman of the Boston Priests’ Forum, said Friday that Foster was a victim of a zero-tolerance policy that often fails to take the rights of priests into account.

“There is often a rush to judgment of these priests. There is a presumption of guilt. The priests are not informed of their canonical rights,” said Bullock, whose organization represents 250 of the 622 active priests in the Boston archdiocese.

“Every time a priest is removed in this quick process, a document goes out, an ice-cold, formal statement from the archdiocese,” Bullock said. “It is a template, and the latest priest’s name is filled in.”

Bullock, a priest in Sharon, Mass., south of Boston, added, “This in no way minimizes the enormity of crimes that have been committed, or the tragedy that survivors and their families have experienced. However, our argument is not about guilt or innocence. Our argument is about process. The rights of many priests are not being respected.”

A hearing on the motion to dismiss charges against Foster is scheduled for Wednesday.