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Copyright 2002 Burrelle's Information Services

ABC News

SHOW: Good Morning America (7:00 AM ET) - ABC

May 3, 2002 Friday

TYPE: Profile

LENGTH: 2004 words

HEADLINE: Reverend Paul Shanley arrested in San Diego for sexual abuse of minors; Prosecutor Martha Coakley, victim's attorney Eric MacLeish, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly and victim's father discuss the Catholic church and how the case has been handled

REPORTERS: RON CLAIBORNE

BODY:

CHARLES GIBSON, co-host (Boston, Massachusetts): But we do start with our lead story which is in the Catholic church. The press here in Boston, ever since January when this scandal broke, has been pervaded by the story. And as Diane mentioned, the arrest of the Reverend Paul Shanley yesterday. He will be charged with the rape of a young boy in the 1980s. But all that is just the tip of the iceberg, and for the rest of the story and the latest details, we go to ABC's Ron Claiborne who is in nearby Brighton, Massachusetts. Ron:

RON CLAIBORNE reporting:

Charlie, more than a month ago, Father Paul Shanley suddenly disappeared from his home in San Diego. He was thought to be on the run, possibly in Thailand or Costa Rica, but then he turned up in San Diego earlier this week at a friend's home where he was arrested yesterday and charged with sexually abusing a young boy almost 20 years ago.

(VO) Shanley was taken from his home in handcuffs, arrested on a warrant from Massachusetts that charges the retired priest with three counts of rape of a child. Prosecutors would not identify the victim except to say he was sexually abused from the age of six to 13 at what used to be St. Jean's Church in Newton.

Ms. MARTHA COAKLEY (Middlesex County Prosecutor): The young man disclosed that Father Shanley said to him that if he told, no one would believe him.

CLAIBORNE: (VO) One of Shanley's alleged victims is Greg Ford who says he was raped by Shanley for years, starting when he was six.

Ms. PAULA FORD (Mother of Greg Ford): This will not happen to another child at the hands of Paul Shanley.

CLAIBORNE: (VO) The church crisis first exploded in Boston in January over the case of John Geoghan, a priest who Boston church officials, including Cardinal Bernard Law, moved from parish to parish, even though they knew he was an admitted child molester. But it was the release last month of the archdiocese's file on Shanley that all but wiped out the remaining support for Cardinal Law. The paper showed that church officials knew about complaints about Shanley for years, even that he was publicly advocating sex with children, yet allowed him to remain a priest. Shanley is now in a position to blow open the scandal if he can provide details that the documents did not reveal. Why church officials seemed to be protecting him?

Mr. RICHARD SIPE (Author, "Sex, Priests and Power"): It's a dynamite keg with a fire about three inches away from it.

CLAIBORNE: (VO) Last night the Boston archdiocese said it will continue to cooperate with law enforcement authorities.

(OC) Massacusett--Massachusetts prosecutors want to extradite Shanley as soon as possible to stand trial here. He is due to appear in court in San Diego later this morning where we will find out whether he intends to fight that effort to extradite him. Charlie:

GIBSON: All right, thanks very much, ABC's Ron Claiborne. Joining us this morning here in Boston right in front of Faneuil Hall, Eric MacLeish who is the victim's attorney, Rodney Ford, whose son Greg is one of Shanley's alleged victims, also, Rodney, a client of Eric MacLeish's, and joining us as well, prosecutor Martha Coakley.

And, Martha, let me start with you. Since these charges are brought in Middlesex County, I guess, the charges of rape against Shanley...

Ms. COAKLEY: Yes.

GIBSON: ...are there other prosecutions possible? This is the first criminal prosecution since this case broke, really, in January and so much attention focused on it. Ms. COAKLEY: That's correct. And we have an ongoing investigation. There are other credible witnesses in this case. If other charges are appropriate, we will bring them. We did feel it was, at this stage, appropriate since the victims in this case were still within the statute of limitations just came forward, that it was appropriate to seek a complaint and warrant to bring Father Shanley back to face process. He's obviously innocent till proven guilty, but we wanted him to--in Massachusetts.

GIBSON: Eric MacLeish, you wanted to depose him. You have a number of clients...

Mr. ERIC MacLEISH (Victim's Attorney): Right.

GIBSON: ...alleging sexual abuse. What'd you want him to tell you?

Mr. MacLEISH: Well, there's some real answers to questions that we need. I think it's clear from the documents that Paul Shanley was nurtured, protected and financed by the archdiocese long after they knew about his deviant views on men-boy love, as well as his predatory behavior. The question is, why? There's been suggestions from columnists, and I agree with them, that Paul Shanley had something on the archdiocese of Boston.

GIBSON: There are documents that indicate that he was going to tell...

Mr. MacLEISH: Yes.

GIBSON: ...a lot of what he knew unless...

Mr. MacLEISH: He got money.

GIBSON: ...un--unless they were to transfer him or keep him as a priest...

Mr. MacLEISH: Right.

GIBSON: ...or give...

Mr. MacLEISH: Right.

GIBSON: ...money.

Mr. MacLEISH: I...

GIBSON: So the question is, might he cut he deal...

Mr. MacLEISH: Well...

GIBSON: ...and might he turn on higher ups in the church? Mr. MacLEISH: It's entirely possible. I--I think that one the most interesting documents, Charlie, is this extraordinary letter between Cardinal Law and Cardinal O'Connor. In 1997, you know, the two most powerful prelates in the United States, where Cardinal Law is essentially saying we would like Paul Shanley to be the executive director of Leo House, this Ronald McDonald House,as Shanley described it. Why were the two most powerful men in American Catholicism at that time corresponding about someone who was engaging in this deviant behavior?

GIBSON: Rodney Ford, your son has alleged sexual abuse by Father Shanley. How did he feel yesterday with his arrest? How do you feel?

Mr. RODNEY FORD (Father of Alleged Abuse Victim): I personally feel very glad that he's taken off the--the streets. He's a monster. He, I'm sure is--just the other day, he was still feeding on children.

GIBSON: Do you feel the problem is being rooted out, that it really is being addressed systemically in the church? We now have 177 priests who've been removed from their duties in 28 states and in the District of Columbia.

Mr. FORD: It's a--it's a first, and it's a major step. There's a lot more people involved with this. We'd like to thank the law enforcement agencies for getting involved with this. They're--they're doing a great job. And--and once we get rid of all the people that are related in any way to pedophilia, this church can never heal.

GIBSON: Martha, you mentioned statute of limitations a moment ago. There's other problems. This--this prosecution based on repressed memories that came forward again. That's very difficult to do in a prosecution. And you also have this drumbeat of publicity in Boston. Can there--can there be a fair trial in this area?

Ms. COAKLEY: Well, we've dealt with issues like that before. I think the courts are very good at that process, and we'll deal with that when it comes to that. You know, we are looking at credible evidence, corroborating evidence. I'm--I'm not going to label whether it's a repressed memory, recovered memory. Those are sort of terms of art in--in psychiatry. We take these cases where the evidence leads us, as I was instructed by my boss, former boss, Attorney General Tom Reilly. We believe we have sufficient evidence to indict, and we're not concerned about that issue. We'll deal with it. GIBSON: Just one other question, Eric MacLeish. You want to depose also the cardinal of Boston, Cardinal Law...

Mr. MacLEISH: Right.

GIBSON: ...don't you? What do you want to hear from him?

Mr. MacLEISH: Well, we--we want answers to the questions on why Paul Shanley was protected and financed and helped for so many years, and why he didn't take action. And we're having that opportunity on June 5th to take his deposition. You know, Charlie, if I could just say that, you know, this is not just about clerical sexual abuse. One of the things that's happened, really as a result of the events in the past couple months, all around the country, victims are starting to realize that people like Rodney, Paul and Greg Ford, they can take on powerful institutions that protect pedophiles and now we have this arrest. And it's been very empowering for victims all around the country. And I don't think the child molesters are sleeping too well tonight.

GIBSON: All right.

Mr. MacLEISH: Or this morning.

GIBSON: I thank all of you--I thank all of you for being with us. And Martha mentioned the attorney general of the state of Massachusetts, who's also with us, the attorney general, Thomas Reilly.

Mr. THOMAS REILLY (Massachusetts Attorney General): Good morning, Charlie.

GIBSON: And I appreciate you're being here...

Mr. REILLY: It's great to be here.

GIBSON: ...very much. The archdiocese yesterday put out a statement after the arrest of Father Shanley saying that they are continuing to cooperate with law enforcement officials. Have they cooperated?

Mr. REILLY: To a certain extent. Our focus is really on protecting children, moving forward. I see a lot of kids and their families out here today. This is about making sure that they're not at risk. And frankly, the church has a long way to go. There are conditions that led to this. There's certainly thinking and decision-making that led to a cover-up and--and certainly not making it--keeping it secret. That has to change.

GIBSON: But you had to...

Mr. REILLY: We haven't seen that yet.

GIBSON: ...pry--you had to pry the records out of the church that you got.

Mr. REILLY: Nothing---nothing comes easy dealing with the church. It's very secretive. Certainly, Eric has gone through it, we've gone through it, where they have to be forced to produce records. Right now, we're looking for the psychiatric records of the priests that have been acknowledged. We need those records to make sure that kids are safe, that these people are no longer a danger. We haven't gotten them yet.

GIBSON: The records that Eric MacLeish was talking about indicate that higher ups in the church knew about Father Shanley and others and moved them from one parish to another and left them in contact with kids. Is it possible that higher ups in the church, including even the cardinal of Boston, could face charges?

Mr. REILLY: It's very difficult to bring criminal charges in this state for conduct and behavior that was caused by someone else. But it's also important to remember, this is far broader than one person. This is systemic. This went on for a very long time. The duration and the extent of it...

GIBSON: But aren't the...

Mr. REILLY: ...is very serious.

GIBSON: ...people, essentially, at the stop responsible? Mr. REILLY: Certainly, in--in terms of anyone that's in charge. And the decision-making is--is tragically flawed here. What they did is they lost sight of kids. The institution came first, and also the protection of priests came first. Their focus and their priority should have been children--on children and making sure that children were not at risk. That's the shame of all this. We're passing a law today in this state mandating and enforcing the reporting of child abuse and sexual abuse and rape of children. It shouldn't come to that. That was always wrong. It was wrong the first time, the second time. There's at least 500 instances of victims being abused in this state. That's tragically wrong.

GIBSON: Attorney General Thomas Reilly...

Mr. REILLY: Thank you.

GIBSON: ...thank you for being with us. And Martha Coakley, Rodney Ford, Eric MacLeish, thank you for being with us, as well. The press, as we say, in Boston has been pervaded by this story ever since January and, obviously, a national story as well. Diane:

DIANE SAWYER, co-host (Boston, Massachusetts):

All right, Charlie. Thanks.

LOAD-DATE: May 3, 2002