Prosecutor to pursue sex abuse case against retired bishop
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Former Bishop Thomas Dupre is accused of molesting two altar boys in the 1970s.
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SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts (AP) -- A prosecutor said Thursday he will pursue sex abuse charges against retired Springfield Bishop Thomas Dupre, who has been accused of molesting two altar boys in the 1970s while he was a parish priest.
If a grand jury indicts him, Dupre would become the first bishop charged in the sex scandal that engulfed the Roman Catholic church two years ago.
There have been at least a dozen grand jury investigations involving bishops, and four bishops have resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct.
Dupre, 70, stepped down February 11, citing health reasons. His retirement came a day after The Republican newspaper of Springfield confronted Dupre with the past abuse allegations.
The exact charges Hampden District Attorney William Bennett plans to seek were not immediately known.
Dupre's lawyer, Michael Jennings, has not commented on the allegations. He did not immediately return a call for comment on Thursday.
A lawyer for two men has said Dupre sexually abused them for years, beginning in the 1970s when the accusers were altar boys. Attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr. said Dupre asked the two to keep quiet about the abuse when he was made auxiliary bishop in 1990.
Both accusers agreed to cooperate with Bennett's investigation. They also met with officials from the Springfield Diocese and Boston Archdiocese, where the sex scandal broke. A report on the church's internal investigation was forwarded to the Vatican earlier this week.
Dupre served nine years as head of the diocese in Springfield, about 90 miles west of Boston.
Since his retirement, Dupre has been at St. Luke Institute, a private Catholic psychiatric hospital in Maryland where the Boston Archdiocese sent many priests for treatment after sexual abuse allegations were made against them. The institute treats priests with emotional, behavioral, and psychological problems.
One of the boys was 12 and a recent immigrant to America when his family was befriended by Dupre, who offered to teach the child English. MacLeish said the abuse included oral and anal sex, and the two traveled out of state and to Canada. They bought pornography together and the abuse lasted until the boy began dating a girl in high school, MacLeish said.
That boy introduced Dupre to a friend who also was abused, MacLeish said. He said Dupre plied the two boys with wine and cognac before raping them.
MacLeish also has said Dupre made several attempts to cover up the abuse. When he was about to be appointed auxiliary bishop in 1990, he contacted the men and told them he would not accept the position unless they remained quiet, MacLeish said.
One of the accusers, who is gay, came forward with his claims after hearing Dupre speak out against the legalization of same-sex marriage, MacLeish said.
MacLeish said his clients agreed to remain silent, and kept in touch with Dupre after he was appointed bishop in 1995. Dupre sent one client birthday and holiday cards, and would occasionally give him money.
In December, one of the accusers met with Dupre at a restaurant, and said he regretted having had sexual relations with the bishop. MacLeish said Dupre gave an insensitive apology, and told his client he wanted to remain friends.
Dupre has been criticized for his handling of sex abuse allegations against defrocked priest Richard Lavigne, a convicted pedophile who is also a suspect in the murder of an altar boy. But the claims made by MacLeish's clients are the first public accusations against the bishop himself.
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