Vatican defrocks former Fall River priest

BURLINGTON, Vt.—A Roman Catholic priest who served in Fall River and was named in dozens of sexual abuse lawsuits has been defrocked by the Vatican.

The Rev. Edward Paquette, now in his 80s, has been accused of molesting boys during the 1960s and 1970s. He was suspended from practicing as a priest in 1978 and now lives in Westfield, Mass.

One lawsuit, brought against the Diocese of Burlington, Vt., by a former alter boy at Christ the King Church, resulted in an $8.7 million judgment last year against the diocese. The suit claimed that the diocese knew Paquette had molested boys in Massachusetts and Indiana before coming to Vermont.

The diocese has appealed the judgment to the Vermont Supreme Court.

Paquette first served in the Diocese of Fall River in the 1950s and 1960s.