Judge orders Boston Archdiocese to produce more internal files

BOSTON -- A judge ordered the Archdiocese of Boston on Wednesday to turn over thousands more internal files detailing how it responded to allegations of sexual abuse by dozens of priests.

Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney threatened unspecified sanctions unless lawyers produce the documents on 62 priests by Nov. 22.

"I don't want to deal with punishment, but if I have to I will," Sweeney said.

Lawyers for alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse hope the documents show a pattern of negligence in the way the archdiocese handled complaints.

"That's what these cases are all about. Was there protection for children? Did the archdiocese protect kids?" attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr. said.

The ruling came in a hearing on a suit filed by six men who claimed they were abused by the Rev. Paul Shanley, 71. The archdiocese faces about 300 similar suits.