The Rev. Paul Shanley, the Roman Catholic priest who church officials in Boston allowed to work with children despite accusations that he sexually abused minors, was arrested today in San Diego on three counts of child rape.
Father Shanley, 71, was taken into custody about 7:45 a.m. Pacific time, just days after a 24-year-old man in Massachusetts approached the child abuse division of the Middlesex County district attorney's office and brought a complaint against the priest, officials said.
Prosecutors have charged that Father Shanley raped the victim between 1983 and 1990 when the boy was between the ages of 6 and 13. The alleged incidents took place at St. Jean Parish in Newton, Mass., where the victim was a student in the parish, officials said.
Martha Coakley, the Middlesex County district attorney, said the victim had told investigators that on almost a weekly basis Father Shanley would take him and some of his fellow students out of class for "talks." At the "talks," which took place in the bathroom, the rectory and the church's confessional, the victim said Father Shanley raped him.
"The young man disclosed that Father Shanley said to him that if he told, no one would believe him," Ms. Coakley said at a news conference in Cambridge, Mass. "And he believed that at the time."
She added, "He never told anybody."
Eric Macleish, a lawyer for the victim, said his client was pleased with the day's developments.
"It is a date when the process has started to hold Father Shanley criminally responsible for his predatory behavior toward children," said Mr. Macleish, who is also representing three other men who have said they were abused by Father Shanley.
Late Wednesday, Newton police obtained a criminal complaint and a warrant for Father Shanley's arrest, officials said. The San Diego police moved quickly to arrest the priest because authorities feared that he represented a flight risk. The police called Father Shanley at the home of one of his friends in San Diego and told him that they had a warrant for his arrest. He agreed to be taken into custody and the arrest took place without incident, officials said.
Ms. Coakley said that Father Shanley would likely be arraigned on a fugitive complaint in California and then brought back to Massachusetts to face the rape charges.
"I can't give you a definite date, but trust me, it will not be long," she said.
Father Shanley first came to the attention of investigators after the Archdiocese of Boston released documents related to John J. Geoghan Jr., a priest who was accused of sexually assaulting young boys. Father Geoghan was moved to parishes throughout the Boston area before he was defrocked and convicted of indecent assault.
Under pressure from prosecutors, the Archdiocese of Boston also provided internal documents about other sex abuse cases, including files relating to Father Shanley.
Earlier this year the Archdiocese of Boston and Cardinal Bernard F. Law drew the ire of Catholics around the world as details regarding Father Geoghan were made public in his trial on charges of molesting a 10-year-old boy. He was convicted in February and sentenced to serve 9 to 10 years in prison. According to internal church documents obtained by investigators, church officials knowingly covered up Father Geoghan's history.
As more victims came forward, a scandal began to emerge that has rocked the Catholic church. Some people have called for the resignation of Cardinal Law, who apologized for allowing Father Geoghan to continue to work in the church, but has said he would not step down. And around the country, the priesthood came under intense scrutiny as more incidents of sex abuse by priests were reported.
But even more damning to the Catholic church were internal documents about Father Shanley, which revealed that high-ranking church officials knew about accusations of sex abuse against the priest but allowed him to work with children anyway. Among the documents obtained by lawyers was the first complaint of sex abuse against Father Shanley. In 1967, he was accused of molesting children in a cabin in the Blue Hills, Mr. Macleish said. In 1977 and again in 1979, records show that Father Shanley openly advocated man-boy love relationships.
Those documents were released at the behest of lawyers that represented accusers and were made public last month just before American cardinals were summoned to the Vatican to discuss the crisis in the Catholic church with the pope.
This afternoon Barbara Blaine, the president and founder of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said she was pleased that Father Shanley had been arrested.
"We hope that this arrest will encourage others who have been abused by other priests to contact their local prosecutors," Ms. Blaine said. "While this scandal is much broader than any one perpetrator or bishop, the arrest of Father Shanley means that children are safer and Shanley's victims are now one step closer to vindication and healing."
The Archdiocese of Boston did not return calls for comment.
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