21 October 2006

By Gary V. Murray Worcester TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com

WORCESTER— A judge postponed action yesterday on an 82-year-old retired priest’s request that he not be required to undergo sex offender counseling as a condition of his probation on sexual assault charges.

Dennis J. Kelly, a lawyer representing the Rev. Paul M. Desilets, told Judge Jeffrey A. Locke during a hearing in Worcester Superior Court that his client is too old and sick to take part in a sex offender treatment program when he is released from prison Monday.

Rev. Desilets was sentenced to one year to one and a half years in state prison on May 11, 2005, after pleading guilty to charges of sexually assaulting 18 male victims from 1978 to 1984 in Bellingham. The victims were altar boys at Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Bellingham at the time of the assaults, and Rev. Desilets was associate pastor there. 

In addition to imposing the state prison sentence, Judge Timothy S. Hillman, now a federal magistrate judge, placed the retired Roman Catholic priest on probation for 10 years, to begin upon his release from custody. As conditions of probation, Rev. Desilets was ordered to undergo a sex offender evaluation and any related treatment deemed appropriate by probation officials, to have no contact with his victims, and to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18.

Mr. Kelly filed a motion Wednesday asking that Rev. Desilets, who plans to live in an infirmary at Les Clercs de St. Viateur, a religious community in Joliette, Quebec, Canada, be exempted from sex offender treatment because of his age and failing health. The lawyer also asked that Rev. Desilets’ probation be changed from supervised to administrative, which would allow him to report to his probation officer by telephone or mail, rather than in person.

Mr. Kelly told Judge Locke yesterday that his client, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, is suffering from diabetes, anemia, cataracts, episodes of vertigo, momentary loss of consciousness, and pain in his right hip and knee related to a bout with polio as a child.

Mr. Kelly, who said in his motion that Rev. Desilets is “too elderly and infirm” to participate in sex offender counseling, said the treatment would serve no useful purpose because the retired priest would be confined to the infirmary and is already under order to have no contact with children.

The lawyer said the religious order in Canada has agreed to care for Rev. Desilets for the rest of his life and that the retired priest, who was extradited from Canada in 2005 after being indicted three years earlier, “might be relegated to being a street person” if not allowed to return.

Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey T. Travers, who prosecuted the sexual assault case, said he opposed any changes in the terms of Rev. Desilets’ probation in the absence of more detailed information about his medical condition. The prosecutor said he would leave the retired priest’s request to go to Canada to the discretion of the court, provided Rev. Desilets signs a written waiver of extradition to ensure his return if he violates his probation.

Chief Probation Officer Thomas A. Turco III said he hasn’t learned whether or not probation officials in Canada will take over supervision of Rev. Desilets. He said he would oppose exempting Rev. Desilets from sex offender counseling if Canadian officials agree to provide only “courtesy supervision,” instead of strict supervision.

Judge Locke continued the matter until Monday and ordered Rev. Desilets to report to the court’s Probation Department after he is released from custody. The judge said he would be inclined to allow Rev. Desilets to go to Canada, provided he signs a waiver of extradition that is enforceable in the Canadian courts.

The judge postponed action on Rev. Desilets’ requests to be exempted from sex offender treatment and to have his probation changed from supervised to administrative. Judge Locke said he might impose “custodianship” on the representatives of Les Clercs de St. Viateur, who are expected to accompany Rev. Desilets to Canada, so they would be obligated to serve as “agents” of the Probation Department while the motion is pending.

In a press release issued yesterday, Barbara Blaine of Chicago, national president of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said she hopes Rev. Desilets’ request to be excused from sex offender treatment will be turned down.

“Child molesters often exaggerate their ailments, ask for special privileges, and try to avoid therapy. In many instances, they concoct reasons why they shouldn’t have to abide by the same rules as others. And in many situations, church officials have claimed they’ll keep pedophile priests away from kids, only to ignore those promises later,” Ms. Blaine said.

“Knee pain and advanced age don’t magically cure child molesters. We hope the judge will err on the side of caution and reject Father Desilets’ request. The safety of many innocent young kids should take priority over the preferences of one convicted adult criminal,” Ms. Blaine said.

Copyright 2006 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.