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	Priest Abuse Victim Seeking Multi-Million Damage Award By Sam Hemingway Burlington Free Press April 18, 2006 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060418/NEWS02/604180307/1007 The man suing the state's Roman Catholic diocese on claims that, as a child, he was molested by a priest is seeking several million dollars in damages from the diocese, his lawyer told prospective jurors in the case Monday. Michael Gay of South Burlington has alleged that the Rev. Ed Paquette sexually abused him in 1978 when Gay was a young boy receiving religious education from the priest at Christ the King Church. "We are going to be talking damages to compensate Mr. Gay in the $2 million to $5 million range," Jerome O'Neill, Gay's attorney, told the prospective jurors. "We are going to be talking about what we call punitive damages, to punish the diocese ... in the multi-million dollar range." Gay has agreed to permit publication of his name in The Burlington Free Press, which does not disclose the names of alleged victims of sexual abuse without their consent. Lawyers spent Monday in a crowded courtroom at Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington trying to select a jury from a pool of 180 people. Opening arguments in the case are slated for Wednesday. The trial is expected to last three weeks. According to court documents, the diocese knew Paquette had molested boys at parishes in Massachusetts and Indiana before being assigned to Vermont. During his questioning of prospective jurors, lead diocesan attorney David Cleary of Rutland did not dispute Gay's claims that Paquette had molested Gay and that the diocese was aware of Paquette's conduct before he arrived in Vermont. "The diocese will not assert it did not know of Father Paquette's past problems," Cleary said. "I agree the diocese should have been more careful. If it had been, Michael Gay would not have been abused." Cleary hinted that the diocese might challenge Gay's contention that he forgot about the abuse until 2002 and said it was important for jurors in the case to be "fair and honest" when deciding whether any damage award against the diocese is warranted. Gay is one of 12 people, most of them former altar boys, who allege they were molested by Paquette in the 1970s. None of the other cases has reached the trial stage to date. Paquette will not attend the trial. Last week Judge Ben Joseph agreed to have Gay's case against Paquette tried separately. Paquette, who also served in parishes in Rutland and Montpelier, was stripped of his ministerial duties in Vermont in the late 1970s and lives in Westfield, Mass. In addition to the 12 Paquette lawsuits, five more cases are pending at the Burlington court alleging long-ago sexual abuse of children by four other priests. Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or e-mail at shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
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