BOSTON -- A Newton, Mass., woman angrily told reporters that she informed Cardinal Bernard Law about allegations of sexual abuse by a priest in 1987, despite Law's insistence that he didn't know of any allegations until 1993.

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NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Jacqueline Gauvreau said that Law was lying when he wrote to parishioners that he had not heard of abuse by the Rev. Paul Shanley, a retired priest, until 1993.

"The cardinal was my leader," Gauvreau said. "I am heartbroken that he didn't listen, that he didn't listen to the cries of the other children, of all the people that have been telling about Paul Shanley since 1967."

Shanley is facing criminal charges of molesting young boys. He was arrested in a San Diego apartment and extradited to Massachusetts in May.

In a letter sent to parishioners over the weekend, Law said that he wrote that he rescinded Shanley's authorization to be a priest in California in 1993.

"[B]efore God I assure you that my first knowledge of an allegation against sexual abuse against this priest was in 1993," Law wrote. "I was not aware until these recent months of the allegations against him from as early as 1966."

Gauvreau said that she spoke to Law twice, alleging that Shanley molested a 16-year-old boy she knew.

"Before God, and as a Roman Catholic, I will tell you that Paul Shanley was known to the cardinal, because I told him twice, not once, but twice," she said.

Law also wrote that he has no memory of any such conversations, which Gavreau said happened in 1987 and 1988. She said that it's not possible that Law would forget.

"He's not telling the truth. This is between the cardinal and myself, and he knows," Gavreau said. "I mean, it's not as if I said to him, 'You have lint on your coat.' I said, 'A child has been molested.' That should have set off every alarm in his being."

Gavreau said that the first time that she approached Law, he was pastoral, took her hand and assured her that he would take care of it. She said the second time, he told her to talk to his bishops, adding, "That's why they are there."

She also claimed that she called the chancery on a daily basis from 1981 to 1990 to warn them about Shanley, but her calls were ignored.