Father Ronald Paquin pleaded guilty to molesting kids as expected on Tuesday. He was immediately sentenced to three concurrent 15-year sentences. Some of the victims wanted life in prison, but Paquin is 60 and prison life isn’t easy. It may indeed be a life sentence anyway.
As part of the plea agreement, Paquin said he will testify in any civil cases against the Archdiocese of Boston. This has plaintiff’s lawyers salivating. They think Paquin will have information on how the cover-up at the chancery took place and that he may have incriminating evidence about Law, McCormack, and others. I’m not sure. I think it likely that Paquin and others were just clueless about the decisionmaking above them. Last year, the Boston Globe interviewed a priest who was removed from ministry for sexual misconduct and then reinstated by Cardinal Law on a whim. The guy was as surprised as anybody, especially since he didn’t ask for it. Then again, maybe that type of testimony will be damning enough to suit the plaintiffs.
