Following up on a story I mentioned last week about the files related to the death of 12-yuear-old altar boy back in the 1970s, new DNA tests have not shown a link between the boy and the main suspect, former priest Richard Lavigne. Lavigne, who was convicted in the early 1990s of molesting boys and who was accused of molesting Danny Croteau and his brother, has long been linked to the case, but until the investigative files were released under a judge’s order, it was not known that this crucial link hadn’t been made.
Now, this doesn’t exactly exonerate Lavigne, but it does create doubt as to whether he was involved in Danny’s death, contrary to what’s been hinted at by so many people for so long, especially abuse victims, their lawyers, and their advocates. What this teaches is that we have to continue to be cautious in drawing lines, that just because someone is guilty of one thing, they may not indeed be guilty of something else. But we must remain vigilant and remember that Danny’s murderer is still out there somewhere.
