WhoaitsZ

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,95527,00.html


BOSTON — Former priest John Geoghan (search), a convicted child molester who was accused of sex abuse by more than 130 people, was apparently strangled to death in prison Saturday.


Joseph L. Druce, 37, a fellow inmate at the Souza-Baranowski facility at the state prison in Shirley, Mass., assaulted Geoghan just before noon, said Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte. Geoghan died at 1:17 p.m. after being taken to UMass Memorial Health Alliance, Leominster Campus, Conte said.

Preliminary indications are that Geoghan, 68, was strangled, Conte said. An autopsy will be conducted Monday.

Druce was sentenced to life in prison in 1989 for murder, armed robbery and other counts. He was placed in isolation following the attack on Geoghan and will face murder charges, Conte said.

In addition, Druce was charged with mailing a threatening packed with white powder and indicating it was contaminated with anthrax in 2001.

The incident happened just after lunchtime at the correction center, located about 30 miles northwest of Boston, Department of Correction spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said.

Geoghan had been held in protective custody to keep him away from the general prison population, but he still came into occasional contact with other inmates, Nantel said.

Geoghan was a central figure in the church abuse scandal (search), which broke in early 2002 with revelations that the church had moved him from parish to parish even though authorities had been warned about his behavior.

The scandal exploded after a judge ordered the release of archdiocese files involving dozens of priests, showing repeated examples of the archdiocese shuttling priests to different parishes after claims of sex abuse.

Geoghan often targeted boys from broken homes, winning them over through frequent visits or fun outings. One victim said Geoghan molested him as the two were driving home from getting an ice cream cone. Others said Geoghan molested them after visiting their rooms at bedtime to tuck them in, sometimes while whispering prayers.

Geoghan was convicted in January 2002 of indecent assault and battery for grabbing the buttocks of a 10-year-old boy in 199. It was the first of three criminal cases against him. He was sentenced to nine to 10 years in prison.

In civil lawsuits, more than 130 people have claimed Geoghan sexually abused them as children during his three decades as a priest at Boston-area parishes.

In September 2002, the archdiocese settled with 86 Geoghan victims for $10 million, after pulling out of an earlier settlement of about $30 million.

David Clohessy, national director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said what made Geoghan's case more "than just a single case about a single predator" was that it revealed the corruption in the church.

"In many respects, Geoghan is not the pivotal figure, it's the people who he wounded and still came forward and the bishops who enabled him but were finally exposed," he said.

Mitchell Garabedian (search), an attorney for many Geoghan victims, said he was "surprised and shocked" by Geoghan's death.

"Many of my clients would have rather seen Father Geoghan serve out his time in jail and endure the rigors of further criminal trials, so that his pedophile acts could have been exposed further," he said.

The Rev. Christopher Coyne (search), a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston (search), offered prayers for Geoghan's family.

"Upon hearing the news of the tragic death of John Geoghan, the Archdiocese of Boston offers prayer for the repose of John's soul, and extends its prayers in consolation to his beloved sister, Kathy, at this time of personal loss," he said.

Geoghan was defrocked in 1998 at Cardinal Bernard Law's (search) urging. Law stepped down as archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese in December, 11 months after the release of Geoghan's files.

Ralph DelVecchio, a Geoghan victim who settled with the archdiocese last year, said Geoghan deserved prison, but didn't deserve to be killed.

"I wouldn't say he deserved to die, you know?" DelVecchio said. "He was in jail — that's where I believed he should be."

DelVecchio said he didn't wish ill on Geoghan.

"It's over with," he said.



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i am tempted to send Druce a Thank You card.

finally, justice. no more redemption for that motherfucker.

Mr. Druce:

thanks to my bud ogre840 for pointing this out to me, also