Paul Shanley

Paul Richard Shanley (born 25 January 1931), is an American defrocked priest who was accused and convicted of raping a child. He served at St. Jean's Parish in Newton, Massachusetts and was a prominent figure in the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal.

Early career

Shanley first gained notoriety during 1970s as a "street priest" and icon of the Progressive movement whose writings included "Changing Norms of Sexuality". [Jacobs, Sally. "'If they knew the madness in me'. A search for the real Rev. Paul Shanley..." Boston Globe 7/10/2002. Online version available at: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories2/071002_shanley.htm (Accessed on 9 October 2006).] During the 1980s, Shanley served as pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Newton. In 1990, he was transferred to St. Anne's in San Bernardino, California. While there he and another priest, John J. White, co-owned "a bed-and-breakfast for gay customers 50 miles away in Palm Springs". [Rezendes, Michael and Matt Carroll. "Boston diocese gave letter of assurance about Shanley", Boston Globe 4/8/2002. Online version available at: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories/040802_shanley.htm (Accessed on 9 October 2006).]

Crime

In February 2005, Shanley was found guilty of indecent assaults and the rape of a male minor and received a sentence of 12 to 15 years in prison. Shanley's case remains controversial because the allegations of abuse came only after the victim (now an adult) alleged that he "recovered" memories of the abuse from approximately 20 years earlier. The notion of "repressed memory" is highly controversial and has been excluded from several courts of law. [Davis, Wendy. "Memory questioned in abuse case". Boston Globe 4/8/2003. Online version available at: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories4/040803_memory.htm (Accessed on 9 October 2006).] The manner in which the accusations against Shanley arose and enormous attention in the media also have given rise to questions about the validity of the convictions. [Lyons, Daniel, "Sex, God & Greed," Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0609/066_print.html] [Wypijewski, Joanne, "The Passion of Father Shanley," Legal Affairs, http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/September-October-2004/feature_wypijewski_sepoct04.msp] [Cockburn, Alexander, "Back to Salem: Paul Shanley and the Return of Repressed Memory" Counterpunch & The Nation, http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn02192005.html] [Miner, Michael. "Did Shanley get screwed?" The Chicago Reader, http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2005/050218_1.html] [Rauch, Jonathan, "Is Paul Shanley Guilty? If Paul Shanley is a monster, the state didn't prove it." Reason Magazine, http://www.reason.com/news/show/34692.html]

Appeal

In 2007, Shanley's new attorney, Robert F. Shaw, Jr., filed motion for a new trial on his behalf challenging his convictions as unjust. [D'Entremonte, Jim. "Any Prayer for Shanley?" The Guide Magazine, Online Version located at http://ncrj.org/Shanley/JimShanley4.html] During a hearing in May 2008, Shaw forcefully argued that "repressed memories" were without general acceptance in the scientific community, were "junk science," and that the court had not been presented with accurate information about the scientific status of repressed memories before trial. Shaw argued that Shanley is entitled to a new trial. [The Boston Globe, A Former Priest Seeks a New Trial, http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/29/a_former_priest_seeks_new_trial/] [Lawyer for Ex-Priest Questions Repressed Memory Science, The Daily Tribune, http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/x1878563848/Lawyer-for-ex-priest-questions-repressed-memory-science]

References

ee also

*Roman Catholic sex abuse cases
*Roman Catholic priests accused of sex offenses
*Crimen sollicitationis

External links

* [http://www.courttv.com/trials/shanley/ CourtTV's Paul Shanley trial coverage]
* [http://www.bishop-accountability.org/ma-boston/archives/PatternAndPractice/doc-list-1.html?#shanley Church documents related to the case]