John J. Geoghan, the former priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy in a Waltham pool more than a decade ago, was convicted Friday of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14.
The jury foreman was loud and clear in his reading of the verdict, which came after more than eight hours of deliberation by a jury of eight men and four women. Geoghan, who was joking, smiling and talking with his sister Catherine during the deliberations, had no physical reaction to the jury’s decision before officers led him out of court by the arm.
Prosecution witnesses told the court Geoghan slid his hand up the swim trunks of a 10-year-old boy while offering him swimming advice in the fall of 1991. At the time of the incident, Geoghan, who has since been defrocked, was a priest at St. Julia’s Parish in Weston.
More than 130 people throughout the Archdiocese of Boston have accused Geoghan of molesting them over the past 30 years. During those years, Geoghan was moved from parish to parish, leaving in his wake two criminal cases in Suffolk County and 84 civil cases still to be decided.
The conviction carries with it a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Geoghan, 66, is due back in court tomorrow for a hearing to set the date of his sentencing.
Geoffrey Packard, Geoghan’s lawyer, classified his client’s reaction as shock. “Where am I going now?” Geoghan asked Packard.
Packard had never been involved in a case with so much pre-trial publicity about circumstances other than the charge to be tried. The talk alleged many different things against his client and potentially tainted the jury pool, Packard said.
“I can’t help but feel that that publicity, which I’d have to characterize from the point of view of the defense of this case, had some effect, whether it’s consciously or unconsciously on the perspective jurors.”
Packard justified his decision to call no witnesses in Geoghan’s defense by saying, “Very frankly, I thought the case that was presented by the Commonwealth was not very strong, to tell the truth.”
Specifically, Packard said the prosecution’s case lacked details surrounding the alleged event, and the details that were presented were not corroborative with each account.
Geoghan will appeal the verdict on the basis of the admittance of Dr. Edward Messner’s testimony, Packard said. Messner, a psychiatrist, testified Geoghan admitted in 1995 to having thoughts about young boys.
“I think it was damaging,” Packard said. “It’s difficult for a jury to look past that.”
Packard said the defrocked priest was worried for his sister’s well-being as he left Middlesex Superior Court to spend his first night in jail. Catherine Geoghan sat in the corner of the courtroom while the verdict was read.
According to Packard, she was “devastated” by the decision, and “could not understand how a jury that heard so many contradictions could return a conviction.”
The accuser, now a 20-year-old college student, is attending a school overseas. Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley was unable to reach the man immediately following the decision, though she did say prosecutors were “pleased for the victim and his family.”
“We are very satisfied today,” she said.
Maryetta Dussourd, a Jamaica Plain mother who claims Geoghan assaulted her three sons and four of her niece’s children, was on hand to see Geoghan’s fate decided for herself.
Before the verdict was read, Dussourd sat on a bench outside the courtroom with tears rolling down her cheeks and anger in her eyes. She condemned the Archdiocese’s handling of Geoghan throughout the years, saying the day of his conviction was long overdue.
“They finally opened the door to truth,” she said, her voice becoming louder. “They finally unleashed all the hidden stories that the Archdiocese of our Boston have kept from all of you.”
As Dussourd spoke, Geoghan brushed by the pack of reporters surrounding her on his way to the men’s room. Geoghan was formerly a welcome and frequent guest in her home, Dussourd said, always arriving in his black and white collar.
“He had the same look on him that he has right now,” Dussourd said. “I can’t stand seeing him in black and white. I can’t stand thinking of him in black and white. I have a hard time being near anyone in black and white any more.”
Another of Geoghan’s alleged victims, 32-year-old Mark Keane, was “overjoyed” when he learned of the verdict.
“I’m so happy that he’s changing into the orange jump suit right now, and I hope he brought a toothbrush,” Keane said.
Keane claims Geoghan assaulted him at the Waltham Boy’s and Girl’s Club in the mid-1980s. His criminal statute has expired, but a civil suit against Geoghan and his supervisors remains.
The Boston Globe reported Boston Cardinal Bernard Law moved Geoghan between parishes in 1984 despite that Geoghan had been previously removed from two other parishes following alleged molestations.
Following the report, Law released a Jan. 9 statement saying, “For the Archdiocese of Boston, I pledge a policy of zero tolerance for such behavior. Any priest known to have sexually abused a minor simply will not function as a priest in any way in this Archdiocese.”
“I would say to Cardinal Law, ‘You are now guilty of aiding and abetting a convicted child molester,'” Keane said.
Following his sentencing hearing, Geoghan will begin the next of his criminal trials, set to start Feb. 20.
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