2 more say Messier assaulted them
Wednesday, September 4, 2002

By Kathleen A. Shaw
Telegram & Gazette Staff


WORCESTER-- Two additional men say they were sexually
assaulted by the Rev. Raymond P. Messier at his camp in
Charlton and at St. Joan of Arc Parish.
     The incidents allegedly happened in the late
1970s, when Rev. Messier was assigned to St. Joan of
Arc Parish and they were boys involved with the
parish-based Boy Scout troop, according to Boston
lawyer Carmen Durso. Rev. Messier was diocesan scouting
director from 1973 to 1977, when he was replaced by
another priest.
     The two latest accusers joined another man in
filing a civil suit yesterday in Worcester Superior
Court against Rev. Messier and the Worcester Diocese.
The first accuser said he was sexually assaulted by
Rev. Messier when he was assigned to Sacred Heart
Parish in Worcester.
     The men are identified in court documents only as
John Doe, James Coe and Robert Roe. Mr. Durso said he
often recommends that his clients use pseudonyms to
protect their families from being stigmatized. The
names are made known to parties to the suit, however.
     Rev. Messier was removed by Bishop Daniel P.
Reilly from his pastorships of St. Francis of Assisi
Parish in Athol and St. Peter Parish in Petersham in
June after the first allegation.
     Rev. Messier denied the first allegation and has
retained Harvard lawyer Robert Casey to represent him.
Many of his parishioners in Athol want him returned to
the parish and have displayed a banner of support in
front of the Main Street church. Mr. Casey did not
return a telephone call yesterday seeking a comment
about the new allegations. The diocese does not comment
on civil suits.
     The mother of the first victim said that when she
found out about the sexual attack on her son, she went
to the late Bishop Timothy J. Harrington. A meeting was
held with the boy's therapist at Worcester Youth
Guidance Center.
     The woman said Bishop Harrington told her in the
presence of Rev. Messier and the therapist that the
priest would never again be in a position where he had
access to young people. The bishop also told her that
Rev. Messier would be sent to the House of Affirmation,
which at the time was a treatment clinic for clergy and
religious, many of whom had sexual problems.
     She recently discovered on a visit to Sacred Heart
Parish that Rev. Messier had been moved to Athol and
Petersham and was pastoring two parishes with young
parishioners.
     John Doe said in the suit that he was 12 and a
member of St. Joan of Arc when Rev. Messier assaulted
him numerous times in 1976 and 1977. These acts
included alleged genital fondling and other attempted
and threatened acts of assault.
     James Coe was the same age and a member of that
parish when assaulted by Rev. Messier, according to the
suit. The acts occurred in the church basement and
included anal and oral penetration and numerous acts of
genital fondling, according to the suit.
     Robert Roe said he was about age 9 in 1981 and a
member of Sacred Heart Parish when he was sexually
assaulted by Rev. Messier in Charlton. The assault
included attempted anal penetration, he said.
     According to the suit, these men have been told
“and believe that defendant Messier committed sexual
assault on other young male members of the diocese
under his care and supervision.” They alleged that the
bishop knew of Rev. Messier's “prior and ongoing sexual
assaults” and should have stopped him.
     Rev. Messier, 60, served at St. Joan of Arc from
1976 to 1978 and was transferred to Sacred Heart in
1978. He was then transferred to St. Roch Parish in
Oxford where he served until going to Petersham in
1984. In Petersham, he replaced the Rev. Brendan
O'Donoghue who has been charged in two civil suits with
molesting boys. He was assigned to St. Francis in 1990
where until recently he was chaplain of the Athol Fire
Department.