Keith Townsend, a 52-year-old survivor of childhood sexual abuse, commented this week on the death of Ronald Paquin, a defrocked Catholic priest who died in a Maine correctional facility on 11 September at age 83. Townsend expressed hope that Paquin’s passing would provide closure to victims and their families affected by the clergyman’s crimes.
Paquin was central to the Catholic Church’s clergy sexual abuse scandal in Boston that led to the resignation of Archbishop Bernard Law in late 2002 and prompted policy reforms across the American church. In 2002, Paquin pleaded guilty to sexually abusing an altar server between 1989 and 1992 at St John the Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. His abuse was initially exposed through investigative reporting by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. After Paquin’s release from prison in 2015, Townsend came forward with his own allegations of abuse occurring during camping trips to Maine between 1985 and 1989, when Townsend was between ages eight and thirteen.
A Maine grand jury indicted Paquin in 2017 on charges related to Townsend and another individual. Following a jury trial in November 2018, Paquin was found guilty regarding Townsend’s allegations but acquitted of charges related to the other individual. Judge Wayne Douglas sentenced Paquin to 16 additional years in prison in May 2019.
Townsend described his journey overcoming substance abuse and incarceration that followed his abuse, and said he pursued Paquin’s prosecution to protect other children. He noted that his efforts led to his personal recovery and the building of a family. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented multiple abuse survivors and was portrayed in the 2015 film Spotlight, stated that the movie helped survivors understand they were not alone and bore no responsibility for what happened to them.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI