Alleged Victim's Father Upset With Law Deposition

BOSTON -- The father of an alleged molestation victim of a former priest said Wednesday that he was upset at the tenor of Cardinal Bernard Law's deposition in the case.

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NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Law's deposition in the lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Boston for its handling of former priest Paul Shanley -- who was accused of abuse -- ended Wednesday afternoon. Rodney Ford, the father of one of the alleged victims, was near tears when he talked about the deposition after it was over.

"I'm very, very upset at the demeanor of the attorneys that represent the archdiocese," Ford said. "If this is what the archdiocese has to offer, it's a disgrace."

Rodney said that Law was evasive in his answers and church lawyers were disrespectful to him and other alleged victims in attendance. Lawyers for the archdiocese disagreed.

"The atmosphere I thought once again was professional and conducted appropriately in accordance with rules of civil procedure," archdiocese attorney Wilson Rogers Jr. said.

Ford held up a letter from Law dated February 1996 that granted Shanley retirement status, but Ford said Law admitted he knew Shanley was "a child molester."

"The American people need to know this," Ford said. "This letter of recommendation he signed, knowing Father Shanley was a child molester."

The two sides continued to do battle over documents related to dozens of priests accused of sexual molestation that have been ordered given to plaintiffs. Church lawyers are appealing, but Judge Constance Sweeney has chastised them for using last-minute tactics.

"We've spent hours, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours in attempting to comply without acknowledgment from the plaintiffs and perhaps the court of the enormity of the task we're facing," Law's attorney, Owen Todd, said.

Eric MacLeish, representing six alleged victims of Shanley, said that the archdiocese should not have had a difficult time turning over the documents.

"These records, every single one of them ... has already been produced to the Attorney General's Office," MacLeish said. "But you know what I was told? I was told that they didn't keep copies of the records they produced."

No date has been scheduled yet on the hearing for the appeal of those records. Law's videotaped deposition is scheduled to be released in early November.