Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that Shanley, 73, is free on bail and it is not known whether he will be present for jury selection.

Shanley was arrested three years ago in San Diego and charged with several counts of rape of a child and assault and battery for alleged crimes that occurred while he was at St. Jean's Parish in Newton. The case began with four accusers but is going to trial with only one. The plaintiff's name is not being revealed. The most vocal accuser, Gregory Ford, [pictured right] was dropped because prosecutors feared his medical history could hurt the case against Shanley. His father, Rodney Ford, said he hopes the former Catholic priest is convicted and goes to jail.

All four boys told similar stories of being taken out of religious education classes by Shanley and raped in the confessional, restroom and church rectory. Prosecutors dropped three of the accusers before the trial.

Shanley allegedly abused more than 12 young boys during his career as a Roman Catholic priest in the Boston archdiocese, but the statute of limitations made it impossible to prosecute most of the cases because they took place so long ago. Because Shanley moved out of state, however, the clock stopped on some of the cases, allowing prosecutors to charge him with sexual abuse that took place between 1979 and 1989.

Shanley became one of the more well-known clergy sex abuse figures because he was a flamboyant "street priest" and youth worker in the 1970s who garnered publicity for his work with homeless teens. Internal church documents showed that archdiocese officials knew of sex abuse complaints against Shanley dating back to 1967, including reports that he advocated sex between men and boys, but they refused to deal with the issue, instead transferring him from parish to parish, including the Newton church.

Shanley has denied ever raping anyone. He was defrocked by the Vatican (news - web sites) in Feburary 2004.

The archdiocese has already paid more than $85 million to more than 500 accusers who sued the church and won a large settlement.

Shanley's lawyer said he will argue that the accusers made up the abuse stories in order to collect monetary settlements from the archdiocese.

Because the clergy sex abuse cases have been so widely publicized, the judge has allotted at least four days for jury selection with the expectation it will be difficult to put a panel together. The trial is expected to take two weeks.