Former Priest Convicted Of Child Rape Set To Leave Prison After 12 Years Behind Bars

Paul Shanley, a former US Roman
Catholic priest is set to be released from
prison 12 years after his conviction on
child rape charges.



He was among the first clergymen to
stand trial after the Boston Globe's
Spotlight team found allegations against
priests of serial child sexual abuse and
coverups by the Boston Archdiocese.



The scandal rocked through the church,
exposing similar allegations worldwide
that compromised its moral authority and
led to years of multimillion-dollar
settlements.



Shanley was 74 years old when a
Middlesex County jury convicted him in
2005 of repeatedly raping a boy from his
parish in the 1980s.




His victim, who was
27 years old during the trial, testified that
Shanley regularly pulled him out of Sunday
catechism class for what he called "special
duties" and molested him in various
rooms of St. John the Evangelist, a defunct
parish in the Boston suburb of Newton.



Now 86, Shanley is scheduled to be
released from prison and begin 10 years
of supervised probation.