Defrocked Catholic priest John Geoghan listens as Judge Sandra Hamlin reads his sentence Thursday in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge.
CAMBRIDGE -- A former Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing 130 boys during three decades while church officials did little to stop him was sentenced to 9 to 10 years in prison for fondling a boy in a swimming pool. John Geoghan "hid behind his collar" as he lured his victims, said Middlesex Judge Sandra Hamlin, as she handed down the maximum sentence allowed on Thursday.
"This court has no doubt he's dangerous," she said. "He engaged in what this court can only characterize as reprehensible and depraved behavior."
Geoghan, 66, is a key figure in a scandal that has forced the Boston archdiocese to release names of priests who have been accused of pedophilia. Church members have called for Cardinal Bernard Law to resign, saying he protected child molesters.
Geoghan's 130 alleged victims are the most in any known priest abuse case in the nation. The Rev. James Porter of the Fall River diocese was accused of molesting 99 people and was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in 1993 to molesting 28 people.
Geoghan was convicted of indecent assault and battery last month in the first of three criminal cases against him. He'll serve six years of the sentence; the rest will be suspended based on a sentencing law in effect at the time of the crime in 1991.
The victim testified during the trial that Geoghan, who he recognized as a priest he'd seen around his housing project, approached him at the Waltham Boys and Girls Club and offered to teach him how to dive.
After coaching him verbally for 10 or 15 minutes, the priest stuck his hand under the boy's shorts and squeezed his buttocks, the young man testified.
Hamlin said the victim fit the profile of boys Geoghan targeted, who were often from lower-income families and didn't have fathers at home.
"They were helpless, they were unprotected," she said. "The defendant felt no one would believe them."
Geoghan shook his head in denial as Hamlin described him as a sexual predator who refused to admit he needed help.
Hamlin quoted from a recent psychiatric report in which Geoghan said he'd be "terribly offended" if asked to undergo treatment as sexual offender.
"The only help I need is to get out of the joint," Geoghan said, according to the report.
Geoghan did not testify during his trial, and no one testified on his behalf.
Geoghan's sister, Catherine Geoghan, who has steadfastly maintained her brother's innocence, clutched rosary beads while the sentence was read.
"I'm numb," she said afterward. "It's very unjust, completely."
The victim, now a 20-year-old college junior, said in a statement before the sentencing that he was sickened by Geoghan's apparent lack of remorse. The victim's mother, Kimberly Brown, asked that Geoghan be "removed from civilization where he would never hurt another child."
In handing down the maximum sentence, Hamlin cited Geoghan's admissions of molesting other children and his diagnosis as a pedophile. She also said he was not a candidate for rehabilitation, citing psychological evaluations noting his lack of concern for his victims and his tendency to blame them for his acts.
In a statement, Boston archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Morrissey said, "We are pleased that justice has been served in this case and John Geoghan will be punished accordingly."
Since 1995, more than 130 people have claimed Geoghan fondled or raped them during the three decades he served in Boston-area parishes. He also faces two other criminal cases and more than 80 civil lawsuits.
The church has been criticized after a Boston Globe investigation revealed it knew of Geoghan's history of alleged sexual abuse but continued to move him from parish to parish.
Cardinal Law announced a "zero tolerance" policy and gave prosecutors the names of more than 80 active and former priests accused of abuse during the last four decades. Nine priests have been suspended since the new policy was announced, including an Abington priest on Wednesday.
Law, the nation's most senior Roman Catholic prelate after 18 years at the head of the fourth-largest archdiocese in the United States, also apologized to Geoghan's victims.
The case's impact has been felt at parishes around the country, with five other bishops, from Brooklyn to Green Bay, Wis., being forced to defend their handling of complaints or discipline against Geoghan.
Prosecutor Lynn Rooney had asked the judge to be severe in sentencing, calling Geoghan "a predatory pedophile."
"He has a documented history of taking extraordinary measures for his own sexual gratification," she said.
Defense attorney Geoffrey Packard had asked for probation, saying sentencing guidelines called for no more than three years.
After sentencing, Packard said he was concerned about Geoghan's safety and his state of mind.
"I think he's stunned," Packard said. "He's just been sent to state prison and he's 66 years old. I am afraid for him."
In New Mexico, the archdiocese said it settled some 45 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by former priest Jason Sigler. In Portland in 2000, the Catholic Church reached a settlement with 22 men who accused the Rev. Maurice Grammond of abusing them between 1950 and 1974.