Alleged Victim Says Law Upset At Some Questions

BOSTON -- Alleged victims of a pedophile priest said that Cardinal Bernard Law became angry over some of the questions in the third day of a deposition in a civil lawsuit Monday.

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NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that alleged victims said that Law was more forthcoming than he was the previous two days of the deposition. They said that Law became upset at times.

"Cardinal Law lost his temper pretty good in there when I think he thought people were questioning his honesty," alleged victim Mark Keane said. "He really snapped there for a minute."

Keane said that Law also said that he would be able to set up a fund to pay victims of abuse without the approval of the archdiocese's Finance Council. The council refused to approve a settlement deal with 86 of defrocked priest and convicted child molester John Geoghan's alleged victims, even though Law had signed off on the deal.

"The question was asked, 'Can you set up a separate trust fund as a separate entity to settle the cases of the Geoghan 86 without having to worry about the Finance Council?' and his answer was, 'Yes,'" Keane said.

Keane said that Law admitted he knew Geoghan was treated at St. Luke's Hospital and at the Institute For Living to treat pedophilia. Keane said Law also acknowledged having conversations about Geoghan with other high-ranking church officials.

"Despite all that, [Geoghan] wasn't kicked out until '98," Keane said.

Law has not commented on the depositions, and the archdiocese did not provide a statement.

Monday morning, Law was grilled about a letter from a hospital in which an expert said it was reasonable to send Geoghan back to a parish but that there was a low probability that Geoghan could molest other children.

"[Geoghan] had already been in and out of St. Luke's Hospital before he had gone into this second hospital that [Law] got the letter from," Keane said. "Cardinal Law refuses to recognize that there was a probability that he would do this again."

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who is representing Geoghan's alleged victims, asked Law for two more deposition dates, and that request was not refused. No new dates have been set up yet.