BURLINGTON, Vt. — Many Roman Catholics believe that the worst of the clergy sex-abuse scandal is over. But in the Diocese of Burlington, it’s deepening.
The case of one cleric, assigned to Vermont parishes in the 1970s despite warnings from an Indiana bishop that the priest was suspected of molesting boys, is battering the local church.
Last month, a former altar boy who said the Rev. Edward Paquette molested him repeatedly three decades ago won an $8.7 million jury verdict in a negligence lawsuit against the diocese.
Attorneys for the diocese said they have insurance that could cover part of the $8.7 million payout, but they couldn’t find their copy of the policy and had sued the insurer to get it.
To make certain that the settlement is paid, a judge put a $10.2 million lien on the diocese’s central offices. An appeal is pending. But even if the verdict is overturned, 16 more people who said Paquette molested them in Vermont have filed their own claims.
It’s an expense the Vermont church will have to scramble to avoid.
Paquette is not known to have faced criminal charges, but he acknowledged in a 2006 deposition that he was “sexually involved” with boys while in parishes in Massachusetts, Indiana and Vermont. That deposition was for a negligence claim brought by a former Vermont altar boy who reached a near $1 million settlement with the Burlington Diocese.
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