Magazine Article	Articles Archive

Paul Shanley's sentencing took place on February 15. Shanley now refers to the session as "my hanging."

It was like a picnic at a lynching, one of those celebratory occasions when white folk posed for photographs below suspended corpses of black men suspected of miscegenation. Television news teams turned out in force. The spectators were in a jovial mood as they filed through a metal detector. Inside the courtroom, there were lots of big, warm hugs.

Introducing herself to strangers, a woman kept announcing, "I'm Dale Walsh and I'm a Shanley survivor." Arthur Austin, dressed plumply in black, a small gold cross adorning his chest, a book tucked under one arm, stood greeting his fans. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, a pioneering instigator of priest-abuse lawsuits, made an appearance. Also present were members of Paul Busa's family, the Fords, former St. Jean's parishioners, members of SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests), and Robert Curley, the activist father of a Cambridge, Mass. ten-year-old killed in 1997 by a man purportedly crazed with lust by the NAMBLA website.

View our poll archive

"You're catering to the NAMBLA contingent," sneered Curley when a bailiff moved a group of Shanley supporters away from the Busa entourage and into the jury box, telling them they could "see better over there."

When a delay was announced, someone cracked, "Shanley called in sick," producing an outbreak of titters. Eventually, at 10:15am, the session began with victims' impact statements.

"This verdict is a tremendous relief and a source of satisfaction," said Paul Busa's father, a member of the Massachusetts Department of Correction's fugitive squad. "What [Shanley] did to my son can never be fixed... he robbed my little boy of his innocence.... I've seen a lot of evil people, and I want you to know he's right at the top of the list."

Weeping, Theresa Busa recalled missing family weddings and baptisms because her husband found events where priests officiated far too painful to attend. She described Busa's anguish and fits of temper, blaming the spectrum of his emotional problems on Shanley. Citing the pastor's "indescribable crimes," she said she hoped her husband's tormentor would die in prison, ask God for forgiveness and be denied, and spend eternity in Hell.

Paul Busa's statement, toned down from one submitted earlier, was read by prosecutor Lynn Rooney. Busa described Shanley as "the lowest of the low... a pedophile, possibly the worst ever." As if stating fact, Busa went on to say, "He is a founding member of NAMBLA and he openly advocates sex between men and little boys." He complained that Mondano's cross-examination had "put my family and I through a living hell." He expressed a wish that Shanley would "die in prison of natural causes-- or otherwise."

The statements contained no vestige of the Roman Catholic traditions of forgiveness, charity, grace, and redemption.

As the judge began reading the sentences-- 12 to 15 years on two charges, 10 years' probation on two more-- a pair of bailiffs swooped down on Shanley and put him in shackles. Caught by surprise, Shanley flinched. Spectators uttered a satisfied moan.

As the hearing ended, someone whooped; others applauded. Arthur Austin made a beeline for the television cameras. Most people lingered near Paul Busa, hero and star.