Grand jury weighs case against Cardinal Law, other officials

Associated Press WriterBOSTON (AP) -- A grand jury is looking into whether criminal charges could be brought against Cardinal Bernard Law and other church leaders in the sex scandal that has engulfed the Boston Archdiocese, a law enforcement source said Wednesday.

The grand jury convened by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly has been investigating for weeks whether Law and other leaders broke the law in allowing priests accused of molesting children to remain in positions where they could continue to abuse youngsters.

A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the chances that charges would be filed against Law or other top officials are small because of the statute of limitations and the difficult standards for prosecuting someone as an accessory.

The scandal rocking the nation's Roman Catholic Church began earlier this year in Boston when it was disclosed that the archdiocese had moved priests from parish to parish despite allegations they had molested youngsters.

Nationwide, at least 250 priests have either been dismissed from their duties or resigned since the scandal erupted.

By law, Reilly cannot confirm whether a grand jury investigation is under way. But Reilly told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his office is using "every investigative tool available to us, including interviews and demand for documents and records."

"We have an obligation to look into this," Reilly said.

Reilly said in April that he had not ruled out bringing charges against Law.

The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for Law, said the archdiocese was preparing a statement but had no immediate comment.

Reilly and various district attorneys have said that under state laws on conspiracy, obstruction of justice and being an accessory to a crime, it would be difficult to charge someone for putting another person in a position to commit a crime.

One former Boston-area priest, John Geoghan, has been accused in lawsuits of molesting scores of youngsters. He was convicted in January of groping a boy and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Law acknowledged knowing about allegations against Geoghan in 1984, his first year as cardinal.

Church documents show that archdiocese officials also knew as early as 1967 about abuse allegations involving now-retired priest Paul Shanley, who is charged with raping a boy in the 1980s.

Law has been questioned under oath in both cases in lawsuits brought against the archdiocese.

Last weekend, the nation's Catholic bishops adopted a policy that would remove all child-molesting priests from church work but necessarily the priesthood.

Two-thirds of Catholics in a Washington Post poll released Wednesday said the new guidelines do not go far enough in protecting children. Three-fourths of the general public felt that way.