SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A 50-year-old Roman Catholic priest charged with raping two young boys apparently is the focus of a renewed investigation into the 1972 slaying of an altar boy.
Published and broadcast reports said the Rev. Richard Lavigne, pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Shelburne Falls, was a suspect in the death of Danny Croteau, whose body was found under a bridge over the Chicopee River on April 15, 1972.
Lavigne pleaded innocent Monday when arraigned in Greenfield District Court on two counts of rape of a minor, officials said.
Lavigne, who was been a priest for 25 years, was arrested Friday. Authorities declined to release details of the alleged crimes and the ages and hometowns of the boys were not released.
Lavigne was released on $5,000 personal surety and ordered to return to court for a Nov. 18 hearing, a court clerk said.
Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett reportedly has reopened the investigation into the Croteau slaying because of the latest charges against the priest.
WGGB-TV in Sprinfield said Monday night that Lavigne had been a suspect in the boy's death but was never charged. The case remains unsolved.
Lavigne had served as an assistant pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Springfield, where Danny Croteau and his four brothers were altar boys.
Carl Croteau, the dead boy's father, said the priest would often have the boys sleep over at the rectory.
Danny Croteau was found beaten in the head and face with a rock. Lavigne concelebrated the boy's funeral mass several days later.
The Boston Globe reported Tuesday the boy's father and a former Chicopee police detective confirmed that Lavigne was one of two suspects in the case.
The detective, whose name was not disclosed, said Lavigne remained a suspect after the other suspect was absolved.
The boy's father said he was told by Bennett Monday the case would be reopened. Croteau said he was told in 1972 that Lavigne was the prime suspect, and said three of his other sons told him they had been sexually molested by the priest.
Croteau said he signed criminal complaints against Lavigne at the time, but was told by then District Attorney Matthew Ryan that it would be impossible to get a conviction against a priest.
Lavigne is 'on leave from pastoral duties,' according to the Springfield diocese.
