Rape charges against ex-priest dismissed

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BOSTON, March 8 (UPI) -- Prosecutors on Friday considered whether to appeal a judge's decision to throw out two child rape charges against a defrocked Roman Catholic priest already serving prison time for molesting a child.

The ruling by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle in Boston prevented a second criminal trial from going forward in the case of John Geoghan, 66, who was sentenced in January to six to 10 years for molesting a 10-year-old boy in a swimming pool.

Geoghan, accused of molesting at least 130 children over three decades in various Boston-area parishes, still faces another criminal trial for indecently fondling a child.

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is involved in negotiations to settle the cases of more than 80 of his victims. That settlement could cost the church up to $30 million.

Cardinal Bernard Law repeatedly has said his decision to transfer Geoghan from parish to parish knowing he was a pedophile was "flawed."

In her decision late Thursday, Hinkle ruled the 10-year statute of limitations in the rape cases had elapsed. Geoghan, who allegedly molested the boy in the 1980s, was indicted on the charges in 1999, three years after the statute of limitations ran out, the judge said.

Suffolk County prosecutors said only that they were reviewing their options. They have 10 days to file a notice of appeal.

"This is the result you can get when supervisors keep sexual molestation secret for years," said Mitchell Garabedian, the attorney who represented the alleged victim in a civil suit against Geoghan. "It only revictimizes the victim."

If Geoghan had been convicted on the rape charges, he could have been sentenced to life in prison. He could get another 10-year sentence if convicted on the remaining criminal molestation charges.

The archdiocese said in a statement the dismissal of the rape charges "underscores the necessity for mandated reporting instances of suspected abuse of minors." State lawmakers are debating legislation requiring clergy to report suspected child sexual abuse.

"We hope that John Geoghan will one day acknowledge his responsibility in this tragedy," the statement said, "and that he may come to the full awareness of the devastating consequences of his abuse of innocent children."