A year after the Archdiocese of Boston settled more than 500 sex-abuse lawsuits, lawyer Mitchell Garabedian has filed nine more. What was he waiting for? The most prominent involves the former superintendent of archdiocesan schools, but his lawyer says he is being mistaken for a well-known pervert of the same name. But the guuy says that he distinctly remembers Fr. Eugene Sullivan being identified as superintendent of schools. The guy also says that in unrelated incidents, he was abused by two priests at his parish.
So why now? Why were these lawsuits filed so late? And nine at once? Sounds like another swing by Garabedien at a quick settlement by the archdiocese to make it go away.
Dear Dom,
While it is important that we reserve judgment until the facts become clearer, I agree with your instincts about Garabedian. He is the ultimate snake. I take seriously the cases brought forward by MacLeish because he is a careful attorney. Garabedian however is still licking his wounds for having lost out on the original 10 million $ deal on Geoghan. He seems to be the Jim Sokolove of sex abuse attorneys.
So here’s Mitchell PairOfGreedyHands going once again to the well. Maybe he’s falling behind on his boat payments. Maybe baby needs a new pair ‘a shoes.
Then again, maybe there’s something to these “new” cases. But the best we have from Mitch is that “I’ve run this past my client” to assure us that this isn’t a case of mistaken identity. Thanks, Mitch, but not all of us are going to sing along with you without something better than that.
If the evidence is weak – and there’s really no way to tell from what either Mitch or this article says – I think it’s time the RCAB put up a fight against this garden slug. Make him put some of his lottery winnings back into his clients’ cases. Let’s get EVERYTHING out on the table and see where the truth really is.
And another question: Why aren’t people like MA Attorney General Tom “Is this microphone on?” Reilly – who wants to be governor of MA, and Middlesex County DA Martha Coakley – who wants Tom’s job when he leaves – agitating on Beacon Hill for changes to the statute of limitations laws so they can bring criminal cases against these (and so many other) guys? Perhaps because, for example, we can see how quickly the case against Paul Shanley is unraveling now that alleged victims are backing out, and that’s for alleged crimes that are recent enough that they can be prosecuted at all.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve heard enough about Paul Shanley to know that he is among the most vile men ever to don clerical garb (I shudder when I think he was actually once a priest). Even so, he’s entitled to his day in court, and the evidence has to be good to convict him.
Which brings me back to Mitch. Let’s make him show his hand. What’s he REALLY got here, besides riding herd on a completely shamed and discredited RCAB? If the RCAB loses, then everyone will have learned more about how far the Great Enema still needs to go. If the RCAB wins, then maybe pond scum like Mitch will fade away, and the job of continuing the G.E. will fall to criminal prosecution, where it belongs, as opposed to the tort lottery.