SPRINGFIELD - A former Roman Catholic bishop in the Springfield diocese repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a deposition in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges he was molested by a known pedophile priest. The Most Rev. Thomas Dupre testified in a lawsuit by Andrew Nicastro, who says now-defrocked priest Alfred Graves molested him in Williamstown in the 1980s. Nicastro alleges that then-Bishop Joseph Maguire, and Dupre, his subordinate, knew Graves had abused other boys but assigned him to the church anyway. Dupre later became bishop but resigned after an unrelated child sex abuse indictment in 2004. He was never prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired. Nicastro’s lawyer, John Stobierski, is seeking the release of a videotape of Dupre’s deposition. A written transcript released by Stobierski on Thursday shows Dupre taking the Fifth Amendment to nearly all questions during more than two hours of testimony. "I think what’s most important is him pleading the Fifth," Stobierski said. "Most important is he can’t be - at this point - forthright about his role. I think it says volumes." Dupre’s lawyer, Michael Jennings, said he asked a judge to impound the videotape but did not object to release of the transcript. "It was the spectacle of the videotape, which has no purpose. It isn’t going to inform the public," Jennings said. "It is going to be all over, with this guy sitting there in front of the camera, repeatedly taking the Fifth Amendment. That’s all he wants to use it for, to embarrass him and embarrass the church." A judge is considering the request to release the videotape. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1268183 |
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