Keith Townsend, 52, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by Ronald Paquin, a defrocked Boston Catholic priest, expressed hope that Paquin’s death in prison on September 11 at age 83 will help abuse victims and their families find closure and move forward. Paquin’s case was central to the clergy sexual abuse scandal involving the Boston archdiocese, which led to the resignation of Archbishop Bernard Law at the end of 2002 and prompted policy reforms across the U.S. Catholic Church.
Paquin pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexually abusing an altar server between 1989 and 1992 at St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. His crimes were first exposed in Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative articles by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. After his release from prison in 2015, Townsend came forward to report his own abuse by Paquin during camping trips to Maine between 1985 and 1989, when Townsend was between eight and thirteen years old. Townsend stated that Paquin provided him with drugs and alcohol during the abuse, leading to subsequent struggles with substance abuse and incarceration.
A Maine grand jury indicted Paquin in 2017 on charges of gross sexual misconduct involving Townsend and another individual. A jury found Paquin guilty in November 2018 regarding charges related to Townsend but acquitted him of abusing the other person. Judge Wayne Douglas sentenced Paquin in May 2019 to 16 additional years in prison. Paquin died at Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston, Maine.
Townsend reflected on his personal recovery from addiction following the abuse and credited his pursuit of Paquin’s prosecution with protecting potential future victims. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented numerous clergy abuse survivors including those harmed by Paquin, noted that the 2015 film Spotlight helped survivors recognize they were not alone in their experiences. Townsend stated that securing Paquin’s imprisonment gave him confidence that lives were saved through the legal action.
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