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Court cases

There are two main classifications of court cases involving the diocese, that have been settled over the past 11 years. In all but one of the cases, the statute of limitations had passed for criminal action.

St. Joseph's Orphanage

The diocese settled three major cases of individuals who accused the St. Joseph's Orphanage of harsh emotional and physical abuse while in their custody in the 1940s and early 50s:

• 60 former residents of the orphanage claim they were abused as children by nuns and others. In 1996 they agree to the diocese's offer of $5,000 in return for a promise not to sue.

• Joseph Barquin sued the diocese in 1995, claiming sexual and physical abuse by a nun at the orphanage in 1951. The diocese agreed to a settlement in 1996. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

• Fourteen people claim they were abused as children by nuns and others at the orphanage in the 1940s. The church agreed to settle out of court in 1999. The details were not disclosed.

Mishandling of sexual abuse allegations

Eight priests employed under Bishop John Marshall have been accused of molesting minors. For six this was from 1972-1980 when they were dismissed from their duties. The accusations against Madden surfaced in the early 1990s when he was charged with criminal behavior. Marshall died July 3, 1994. Paulin resigned in 2003.

Single accusation

Two priests have each accused of a single instance of molestation.

• A lawsuit involving former Vermont priest James Dunn;

• one lawsuit against the late Edward Foster;

Several accusations

Four priests have had multiple accusations levied against them.

James McShane

• Michael Bernier alleged Rev. James McShane sexually abused him when Bernier was a parochial school student in St. Albans in about 1970. The church agrees to pay $120,000 to Bernier in 2004.
• one pending lawsuit agsinst James McShane

George A. Paulin

• The subject of a $20,000 settlement in 2003 when Paulin resigned as pastor.
  • The diocese and the priest are facing a lawsuit brought by a former Newport altar boy who alleges Paulin molested him in the 1970s.^[1]

Alfred Willis

• Robert Douglas II accused Rev. Alfred Willis of molesting him as a 13-year-old while he was attending St. Ann Catholic Church in Milton in the late 1970s. The church dismissed and defrocked Willis in 1980.^[2] The Church agreed to a $170,000 settlement in 2004.
  • Two cases against Alfred Willis, the subject of a $150,000 settlement in 2004.

- Abuse trial gives insight to church BFP 6/27/2007 - Judge declares mistrial in lawsuit against diocese BFP 6/26/2007

Benjamin Wysolmerski

• In 1990, Terry Reis Kennedy wrote to Marshall, complaining that she had been raped as a girl by the Rev. Benjamin Wysolmerski in the late 1950s. Marshall dismissed her charges.^[3]
• Janet Labelle Prince claimed she was raped as a young girl by the Rev. Benjamin Wysolmerski in the early 1960s, and then raped again by him in the late 1970s when she was married. The diocese settles the case in 1997. The details are not disclosed.^[4]

Many accusations

Two priests faced many accusations each. The ones against Madden have been resolved.

Michael K. Madden

• Charged with criminal lewd and lascivious conduct with two boys in Barton. Convicted in 1989. Sentenced to two years in prison. He later settled out of court with one of the Barton victims for $162,500.

• Police at the time believed Madden had molested dozens of boys in the early 1970s at the St. Joseph's Orphanage and at five parishes where he served as priest.

Madden died in 2000.^[5]

Edward Paquette

• Bishop Marshall assigned a known offender, Edward Paquette to a parish. Subsequently he was accused of molesting minors from 1972-1978 and was dismissed by Marshall in 1978.^[6]One of the former minors, Michael Gay sued. The diocese settled this lawsuit for $965,000 in 2006.^[7][8]
  • The diocese faces 15 more lawsuits against Paquette^[9]
  • In 1997, "John Doe II' accused both Willis and Paquette of assaulting him.^[10]

Footnotes