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

The case that first involved allegations related to four alleged victims has since been whittled down to a single man who claims he was raped in the 1980s by Shanley when he was a priest at St. Jean's parish in Newton.

A jury of eight men and eight women will consider the case, which is expected to last about two weeks in Middlesex Superior Court.

Shanley faces three charges of raping a child and two charges of indecent assault and battery on a child. The maximum sentence would be life in prison.

Prosecutors said they planned to call New Hampshire bishop John McCormack to the stand Tuesday as one of their first witnesses. McCormack investigated allegations of sexual misconduct as a former lieutenant to Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law and was expected to testify about Shanley's employment history with the archdiocese.

Shanley was once known as a long-haired priest in blue jeans who reached out to Boston's troubled youth in the late '60s. Now 73, he was defrocked by the Vatican last year after being charged with sexually abusing boys at the Newton parish between 1979 and 1989.

His alleged victims contend they were taken out of religious education classes and raped by Shanley in the church rectory, confessional and restroom.

The remaining accuser is 27 and says he was sexually abused by Shanley between 1983 and 1989, when he was between the ages of 6 and 11. Prosecutors said they plan to call the man's father and wife to testify.

Shanley's is one of just a handful of criminal cases that prosecutors have been able to bring to trial against priests accused of molesting young parishioners decades ago.

Most of the priests accused in hundreds of civil lawsuits avoided criminal prosecution because the alleged crimes were committed so long ago that charges were barred by the statute of limitations. But because Shanley moved out of Massachusetts, the clock stopped. He was arrested in California in May 2002.

Shanley became a lightning rod for public anger over the clergy sex abuse scandal after internal church documents were released showing church officials knew that he advocated sex between men and boys, yet they continued to transfer him from parish to parish.

His lawyer, Frank Mondano, has said he will argue that the man made up his story of abuse after the scandal erupted into the headlines several years ago. All of Shanley's alleged victims settled lawsuits with the church in April 2004. The exact monetary terms were not disclosed, but an attorney for the men has said each received more than $300,000.