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American Morning

Interview with Maureen Orth

Aired June 26, 2002 - 09:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The troubling trail of sex abuse allegations keeps growing longer for Father Paul Shanley. He was arrested last May, indicted just last week on multiple charges of child rape and indecent assault.

Now, there are new accusations that follow the priest back to his time, his recent time in California, and prosecutors promising more indictments possibly to come.

"Vanity fair" has the exclusive story coming out in July, and the writer of that article, Maureen Orth, joins us live here on the upcoming article in New York City. Good morning to you.

MAUREEN ORTH: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: You reveal this new relationship that has not been exposed just yet. A gentlemen by the name of Kevin English.

ORTH: Right.

HEMMER: Now, he's age 30.

ORTH: That's right.

HEMMER: Met Paul Shanley in California at what age?

ORTH: Seventeen. He was a 17-year-old virgin who was recovering from two nervous breakdowns, and he was sought out by Paul Shanley at mass -- after mass, in Big Bear Lake, California, and, then Paul Shanley invited him to dinner, and then took him back to the rectory and seduced him.

HEMMER: That first time.

ORTH: The first time.

HEMMER: And he alleges the relationship went from there ...

ORTH: It went on for ...

HEMMER: ... to where?

ORTH: Well, it went on for a long time. Actually, they were still in communication up until just a few weeks ago, or month ago. And he took him down to the motel, the gay motel he owned in Palm Springs with another priest, and that's where he was encouraged to have as many sexual partners as possible, have as much sex as possible. Watch porn at Tony Curtis's old house in Palm Springs, which he and the other priest who ran the gay hotel, would have for their overflow guests.

HEMMER: Did he tell the story to police yet, investigators?

ORTH: He's going to tell it today, I believe.

HEMMER: Today?

ORTH: Yeah.

HEMMER: In California.

ORTH: Yes.

HEMMER: This relationship, I believe, continued for at least a dozen years. Did he tell you why he stayed in the relationship?

ORTH: Often what happens is that the people who are abused also have this attachment. They feel that the person -- the person sort of seduces them into thinking that he is also their protector, and there are parts of them -- it's a very complex psychological attachment that happens depending on what age, really. And they both -- they're terrified, and they're also attached, sometimes.

HEMMER: Did he tell you why he's coming forward now? And is the reason only because Paul Shanley's case has been spread across the country?

ORTH: I think there -- I think that this is something that's bothered him for a long time. And he's just coming to grips with the damage it's probably done to him. A lot of people's memories get triggered by things. They put things aside, and then they come forward when they -- when they see the name or see the people or what's happened to others and they begin to realize what the damage has really become -- what has happened to them. These people are tremendously psychically damaged, the nine victims I've spoken to.

HEMMER: Kevin English knew Paul Shanley was Roman Catholic priest.

ORTH: Yes.

HEMMER: Did he tell you whether or not Paul Shanley prevented his identify from other people knowing or finding out that he was a priest?

ORTH: No, no, no. He -- people knew he was a priest. Although, Paul Shanley would say that there was a big mistake. He told English that he was a priest. That he would call himself a recovering Catholic. But people knew he was a priest. He was charming to a lot of people. Other kinds of people that weren't his victims thought he was just marvelous.

HEMMER: Also, in this article, there is an allegation there too, that's alleged about Paul Shanley's past. Just to get the facts right, I read something where it stated that back in, possibly, the late 50s, Paul Shanley may have been abused. And there's a theory that says he was abused by a higher authority in the church, and the church knew it, and that's why they allowed him, for the past four decades, to continue. Fair assessment of the facts?

ORTH: Yes. He's a very much in your face, confrontational kind of person. And he was known as a radical street priest in the late 60s and the early 70s. And he got away with an awful lot. And he sort of set up a whole system for himself where he would be dealing with abused and runaway kids, and no one was really supervising him.

And even young seminarians in the 80s, one priest told me, knew to stay away from him, that he was abusive, that he used rent (ph) boys on the street. So, it's obvious that the hierarchy knew about him. There were complaints coming in since 1960, and yet, he was allowed to continue.

HEMMER: I know you're a Catholic. I'm a Catholic too. Did this article, and your investigation, and the story that you produced, has it taken you into other avenues of the Church, either in California or back in the Archdiocese of Boston?

ORTH: Well, I think that what I've learned is that -- it was a much higher value for the Church to prevent dirty linen from being aired or from their secrets being -- getting out that it was to take care of victims of rape and abuse. And I think, unfortunately, that's still happening in a lot of parts of the country, particularly in Boston today.

HEMMER: Maureen Orth, "Vanity Fair." Thanks for stopping by.

ORTH: Thank you.

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