Thomas Teczar,

February 13, 2002

Man Says Diocese Could Have Prevented Abuse
Diocese Allegedly Knew Of Priest's Behavior

WORCESTER, Mass. -- On Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, local Catholics grappled with both their personal transgressions and those of their church.

Alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests came forward Wednesday to tell their stories or file lawsuits against the church.

NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reports that a man who said he was abused as a teenager by a priest, claimed that the Worcester Diocese knew of Father Thomas Teczar's behavior before the man was even ordained.

David Lewcon has letters that show that as far back as 1967, the Worcester Diocese had concerns about Teczar. He said he wonders every day what his life might be like if someone had done something to protect the children of Worcester county.

"If I'd come forward sooner, then it could have been a criminal case, and he would be like the numerous priests today that are behind bars," Lewcon said. "He got away."

Lewcon has spent six years pursuing a civil case against Teczar. Lewcon said he was a 15-year-old attending St. Mary's Church in Uxbridge when Teczar began molesting him.

"You don't know who to tell," Lewcon said. "You can't even tell your priest, because the priest is the one that's raping you."
Lewcon said letters prove that the Diocese of Worcester knew Teczar had a problem as early as 1967, five years before his alleged abuse. One letter reads:

"I would suggest that no further warnings should be given about his formerly manifested predilection for intimate and rather exclusive companionship with young boys. If this breaks out again, I do not think he should be ordained."

Teczar was ordained and worked in several Worcester-area parishes. According to a diocese letter, then-Bishop Timothy Harrington told Teczar in 1985 that he would not give him another assignment. One diocese letter reads: "Bishop Harrington told Tom to consider seeking a benevolent bishop..."

Lewcon's civil suit against Teczar is ongoing, but he has since settled with the diocese.

At Sunday masses, Bishop Daniel Reilly announced in a letter that he is asking all clergy to report allegations of sexual misconduct, and he reiterated his position of zero tolerance for abuse of children.
But Reilly has yet to turn over the names of priests involved in sexual abuse cases, something Worcester District Attorney John Conte has requested.

He told NewsCenter 5 that he wants to make sure that no one involved in abuse is still serving in the diocese, and if the statue of limitations has not run out, he intends to prosecute any appropriate cases.

"There are a lot of cases in Worcester County that are not known about, cases far worse than mine," Lewcon said. Teczar is now apparently retired and living in Dudley. NewsCenter 5 was unable to reach him for comment.

Worcester Diocese spokesman Ray Delisle was unable to talk Wednesday, but he said that the diocese is waiting for a written request from the district attorney before deciding what information to turn over.

Conte said that he has made that request and is hopeful that the diocese will release the names of any priests involved in sexual abuse.

Also Wednesday, a Newton family filed suit against Cardinal Bernard Law, saying that the cardinal was informed of the alleged abuse of their son, but he did nothing about it.

September 14, 2002

Trial to start in sex abuse lawsuit

Rev. Teczar is represented by Worcester lawyers Louis P. Aloise and Michael C. Wilcox.   Judge Peter A. Velis will preside over the trial.

September 18, 2002

By Gary V. Murray,Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- Opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of a civil lawsuit brought by a Webster man who alleges he was sexually abused as a teenager by a Catholic priest.

 David Lewcon, 48, of Webster filed his suit in 1996 against the Rev. Thomas Teczar alleging he was sexually abused by Rev. Teczar in 1971 and 1972, when the priest was assigned to St. Mary Church in Uxbridge and Mr. Lewcon and his family were members of the parish.

Rev. Teczar, 61, has denied engaging Mr. Lewcon in any acts of sexual abuse or mistreatment. While he remains an ordained priest, Rev. Teczar was placed on administrative leave several years ago and cannot perform any priestly duties.

Mr. Lewcon maintains he suffered emotional harm as a result of Rev. Teczar's alleged actions and did not begin to understand the damage caused to him until 1993.

The Catholic Diocese of Worcester was also named as a defendant in the case, but Mr. Lewcon's claims against the diocese were dismissed about two years ago, after a settlement was reached.

A 14-member jury, including eight women and six men, was chosen yesterday in Worcester Superior Court to hear the case. Judge Peter A. Velis will preside over the trial, which is expected to last about a week.

Mr. Lewcon is represented by Boston lawyer Laurence E. Hardoon. Rev. Teczar is represented by Worcester lawyers Michael C. Wilcox and Louis P. Aloise.

 September 19, 2002

Testimony begins in priest's trial

By Kathleen A. Shaw,Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- David L. Lewcon said he felt emotional conflict after the Rev. Thomas Teczar raised what he thought was a platonic friendship to a sexual level.

Mr. Lewcon, now 48 and living in Webster, said that at the time he was 16 and was having difficulty accepting that he was homosexual. He saw Rev. Teczar as a friend and a priest and felt deep conflict once the priest attempted sexual encounters with him.

Mr. Lewcon testified yesterday in Worcester Superior Court on the opening day of his civil lawsuit against Rev. Teczar.

In his opening statement, Laurence E. Hardoon of Boston, who represents Mr. Lewcon, told the jury that he intends to show that Mr. Lewcon, a teenager with few friends, was sexually abused by Rev. Teczar, and this abuse altered Mr. Lewcon's life. Mr. Lewcon said he has suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress and has taken antidepressant medication.

Michael C. Wilcox, who with co-counsel Louis P. Aloise is representing Rev. Teczar, told the jury that the allegations involve “a couple of back rubs.” Mr. Wilcox said Mr. Lewcon and Rev. Teczar became friends after the priest came to St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge. The priest gave Mr. Lewcon a back rub on three or four occasions, according to the lawyer. He told the jury that Mr. Lewcon was at the legal age of consent at the time these back rubs occurred.

Mr. Wilcox said he intends to show that Mr. Lewcon had a sexual relationship with another man who worked at the House of Affirmation and later had other sexual relationships with men. He showed photographs taken of Mr. Lewcon and Rev. Teczar together when Mr. Lewcon visited the priest at his parish in Gardner several years later. He added that Mr. Lewcon had gone to several therapists and did not immediately mention alleged abuse by Rev. Teczar.

Rev. Teczar, now 61 and living in the Dudley area, is still a priest, but was placed on administrative leave by the Worcester Diocese several years ago. He is barred from performing any priestly duties.

Mr. Hardoon said Mr. Lewcon grew up with his parents, but had “minimal social life” and had no previous sexual encounters before meeting Rev. Teczar. “The whole family was active in the Roman Catholic Church,” he said. Mr. Lewcon's life was “altered” by the experience with his parish priest, but he did not realize his problems were because of past abuse until 1993 when media reports surfaced about the Rev. Thomas A. Kane and his alleged molestation of a young person. Mr. Lewcon began talking with other people and realized where his own problems might have started, Mr. Hardoon said.

Mr. Lewcon said he lived in the country with his family and had few friends. He changed schools a couple of times, which made meeting other young people difficult. He attended religious education classes beginning in first grade, and later transferred to a Catholic school.

The jurors were told by Mr. Lewcon that Rev. Teczar's predecessor at St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge was Rev. Kane, who later headed the House of Affirmation.

 Mr. Lewcon said he first met Rev. Kane when his father, who owned a construction business, renovated St. Mary's rectory. He said he helped his father on the project. Rev. Kane would stop by to greet the teenagers. “He started asking questions about my life,” Mr. Lewcon said. He took him on a trip to visit a boys school and then started talking about issues with sex.

“I didn't feel good at all about it,” Mr. Lewcon said. They took a trip to the Southbridge area, and Rev. Kane asked him in the car where he “wanted to experiment” with sexuality. “I don't know. I don't know,” he said he answered.

“He was a priest. I should trust him,” he said. Mr. Lewcon said he felt uncomfortable about the situation and began to believe he was not “safe” with Rev. Kane. He and Rev. Teczar became friendly shortly after the priest arrived at St. Mary to replace Rev. Kane in the fall on 1970, Mr. Lewcon said.

“I got a sense we had a lot in common,” he said. They liked the same kind of music, and Rev. Teczar had a good stereo system in his room in the rectory. He said he saw the priest as someone who was knowledgeable, and “he made me feel good.”

Rev. Teczar began taking Mr. Lewcon on trips to St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer where the priest was able to get the teenager into places in the monastery where he could meet the monks. They were going to St. Joseph's two to four times a week, he said. It took about a month-and-a-half before the relationship “shifted a little bit,” he said. Their conversations began to include some “sex talk.”

By February 1971, Mr. Lewcon was a regular visitor to the priest's room at the rectory, which was on the second floor. He would be invited upstairs to listen to music. On one particular Saturday that he was invited to the priest's room to listen to music, Mr. Lewcon said the priest began “stroking” him. “I liked it,” he said.

The priest then suggested that he would like to give the young man a back rub. Mr. Lewcon said he told him he didn't want one. Rev. Teczar asked whether he wanted an alcoholic beverage. “I agreed to one,” he said. “He said it would make me feel better.”

After Rev. Teczar served him a second drink, the priest began to massage his shoulders, Mr. Lewcon said. He said the massage felt good, and he agreed, at the priest's request, to lie on the bed with his shirt on so he could continue. Mr. Lewcon said he later removed his shirt. He was rubbed with Vaseline Intensive Care lotion, he said. The priest then began massaging lower on his back, but Mr. Lewcon's belt kept him from going lower.

Mr. Lewcon said although the massage “felt good,” he felt “conflicted.” The man was a friend and a priest, he said. He admitted that he massaged Rev. Teczar's back at his request. He said he felt obligated because the priest had rubbed his back. Mr. Lewcon said he also believed that he could jeopardize their friendship if he did not comply.

On a second occasion after music and alcoholic beverages in Rev. Teczar's room, Mr. Lewcon said the priest again offered to rub his back. He described himself as being face down on the bed in a kind of “paralysis.”

This time Rev. Teczar went lower and massaged his buttocks. He then turned him over and exposed his genitals. “He started to masturbate me,” Mr. Lewcon said. He stopped the priest before he reached orgasm.

“I did not want to accept the fact I was gay. I didn't want to go there,” he said.

Mr. Lewcon said he continued to “like” Rev. Teczar and continued with his trips to St. Joseph's Abbey after the sexual encounter.

September 21, 2002

Lewcon recounts wild Cape party

By Kathleen A. Shaw,Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- David L. Lewcon yesterday described a trip to a home on Cape Cod with the Rev. Thomas Teczar that involved drinking, smoking marijuana and an incident in which one of the partygoers claimed to have a gun.

The incident happened about a month after his first direct sexual encounter with Rev. Teczar, he said. The priest at the time was assigned to St. Mary's parish in Uxbridge, which was Mr. Lewcon's home parish. Mr. Lewcon was a 16-year-old high school student.

Mr. Lewcon testified a second day in his civil suit in Worcester Superior Court against Rev. Teczar. Mr. Lewcon alleges that he was damaged psychologically as a result of sexual misconduct by Rev. Teczar. The priest, who has not been defrocked, was placed on leave by the Worcester diocese several years ago and is not allowed to function as a priest.

Mr. Lewcon said Rev. Teczar invited him to come to his parents' home on Cape Cod. It was March 1971. He said he received his parents' permission and they were accompanied by a couple of other people. “I was looking forward to it,” he said.

They left for the Cape, with Rev. Teczar driving, and arrived during the night after the hour-and-a-half trip. Mr. Lewcon was 16 at the time and helped himself to a mixed drink of Southern Comfort and ginger ale. He later went to bed when Rev. Teczar came into the room and sat on the bed. Rev. Teczar rubbed his shoulders and hugged him, but there was no sexual contact, he said. The following day they drove and walked around areas of Cape Cod, he said. They were joined by two people identified as a half-brother and half-sister of Rev. Teczar.

 “There was a lot of drinking, a lot of noise. People were having a good time,” he said. Mr. Lewcon said he drank alcohol and at one point was sitting on the front porch. He said he became “nervous” because the group appeared to be passing a marijuana cigarette around and he was asked to partake. “I looked up to Tom and asked what should I do. He told me to smoke it and I did,” he said.

He stayed on the porch and picked up a conversation in which someone said, “What's that?” “A gun, stupid,” was the answer. The other person asked what he intended to do. “The response was 'What else. Shoot.' ” The one who said he would shoot was identified as a man named Chip. Mr. Lewcon said he got the feeling that Chip might be intending to shoot him. He got up and went back into the house and upstairs to his bedroom.

He later fell asleep and was awakened about midnight by Rev. Teczar. He was told it was not “safe” for them to stay there and they would go to the priest's parents' house in Worcester.

 They arrived in Worcester and he was given a bed at the parents' house, he said. He went to sleep and got a sensation “that someone was masturbating me. It was like a dream. Then I woke up. It was Tom masturbating me,” he said. Mr. Lewcon put his hand down to stop him but he reached orgasm, he said. “I was absolutely devastated,” he said.

Mr. Lewcon said he was grappling with sexual identity at the time and thought if he did not reach orgasm during these kinds of encounters that he really wasn't homosexual. “I was conflicted about that. It was the last thing I wanted to be,” he said. “I was horrified.”

He described another encounter inside St. Mary's rectory in which he and Rev. Teczar were in his room and the priest asked about the size of his penis. “He asked me to expose myself. He did likewise,” he said.

Mr. Lewcon said he did not understand at first that these encounters might have caused him some psychological damage.

He began thinking about the possible effect of his past in 1993 when he was watching television one night and there was a story about the Rev. Thomas A. Kane and allegations of sexual misconduct and financial impropriety at the House of Affirmation. He later saw reports on other television stations. “It was a pretty scandalous story,” he said.

He began receiving counseling and visited more than one therapist or psychiatrist during that time. He began talking about the alleged sexual abuse by Rev. Teczar. He said he was drinking alcohol more and felt a “loss of identity.” Mr. Lewcon said he has a “trust problem” and does not have close friends. He believes he has developed problems because his first sexual encounter was “abusive.”

“I have real authority issues and am the world's worst employee,” he said. He has been fired from jobs. He said this comes from Rev. Teczar being an authority figure. “Everything he said supposedly was right,” he said. “I have all kinds of insecurities and my self-esteem is pretty low. I don't feel accomplished. I like to be by myself,” he said.

Michael C. Wilcox, co-counsel for Rev. Teczar, began cross-examination, which will continue Monday.

September 26, 2002

Priest's lawyers dispute testimony

By Richard Nangle,Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- Lawyers for the Rev. Thomas Teczar yesterday attempted to discredit the Superior Court testimony of a forensic psychologist who is a key witness in the clergy sexual abuse civil suit filed by David Lewcon of Webster.

Dr. John Daignault, a member of the staff of McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School, said of Mr. Lewcon, “He has lost his soul. His soul has been stripped from him.”

Sexual abuse at the hands of Rev. Teczar when Mr. Lewcon was a teenager, Dr. Daignault said, was to blame.

But one of Rev. Teczar's lawyer's, Louis P. Aloise of Worcester, questioned whether other factors might explain Mr. Lewcon's difficulties in his adult life.

Mr. Aloise noted that Mr. Lewcon, who has been evaluated by several psychologists, carried some scars from his school days. In particular, he keyed on one report that claims Mr. Lewcon annually visits and spits on the grave of a teacher he reviled. Mr. Lewcon said that report was in error. He said that on one occasion when he was visiting a cemetery he happened to walk by the grave of a teacher he disliked. He spat on the grave, he said, but has never returned to do it again.

In either case, Mr. Daignault said, school-related problems would not explain Mr. Lewcon's many present afflictions.

Mr. Aloise's questioning of Mr. Daignault focused at times on the possibility that Mr. Lewcon is faking or exaggerating his symptoms. Mr. Daignault discounted that. He said, however, that he did not contact every therapist who evaluated Mr. Lewcon in order to question them about reports that Mr. Lewcon claimed were inaccurate.

Mr. Daignault said Mr. Lewcon will require five to seven years of intensive therapy, two sessions a week, in order to get control of his life. But he said there is no cure for the damage allegedly done to him by Rev. Teczar.

Mr. Lewcon's lawsuit charges that in the early 1970s he was sexually abused by Rev. Teczar, who was assigned to St. Mary Church in Uxbridge.

Mr. Lewcon claims the alleged abuse is to blame for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, inability to enter into a sexual relationship without the use of alcohol and a host of other maladies.

Michael Wilcox, representing Rev. Teczar along with Mr. Aloise, told the jury during opening statements that the allegations involve “a couple of back rubs” and that Mr. Lewcon was at the legal age of consent when those back rubs occurred. Mr. Lewcon, however, says those back rubs led to mutual masturbation sessions.

Testimony was scheduled to continue today at 9 a.m. Rev. Teczar is expected to take the stand in his own defense before the trial concludes.

Richard Nangle can be reached by e-mail at rnangle@telegram.com.

September 28, 2002

Teczar's career path rocky

By Kathleen A. Shaw,Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- The Rev. Thomas Teczar testified in Worcester Superior Court yesterday that he was dismissed from two seminaries and generally had a rocky road on his way to ordination in 1967.

Now 61, Rev. Teczar testified that after ordination by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan, he was transferred several times until he became an inactive priest in 1984. He has never been defrocked, but the Worcester diocese took away his right to function as a priest in that year.

His testimony came during the seventh day of a trial in the civil suit filed against him by David A. Lewcon of Webster. Mr. Lewcon testified earlier in the week about a relationship that developed with Rev. Teczar when he was age 16 and Rev. Teczar was assigned in 1971 to St. Mary's parish, Uxbridge. The relationship involved sexual contact.

Louis P. Aloise and Michael C. Wilcox, lawyers for Rev. Teczar, sought to keep information in the priest's personnel file from being admitted as evidence. They argued that the intent of bringing the information out was “character assassination.” Judge Peter Velis said that information contained in personnel and job performance reviews is not admissible in court, but Lawrence E. Hardoon, lawyer for Mr. Lewcon, could elicit answers through questioning Rev. Teczar.

Rev. Teczar said he first thought seriously about the priesthood while in junior high school and he entered St. Paul's Seminary, Ottawa, in 1961. He was dismissed from the seminary and the seminary director suggested that he should not be a priest. Rev. Teczar said he never received any written appraisals from the seminary other than grades for courses. The seminary supervisors questioned his judgment in a letter to Bishop Flanagan but no specifics were given. “It was a blow,” Rev. Teczar testified. “I completely wanted to be a priest.”

He went to the bishop of Pittsburgh in September 1963 to see whether he would assist him in finding another seminary placement, but the bishop declined, he said. That bishop was Bishop John J. Wright, who was Worcester bishop before going to Pittsburgh in 1959. He later became a cardinal and headed the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy in Rome until his death in 1979.

 The following year, Rev. Teczar went back to Bishop Flanagan to see whether he would reconsider and he did agree to send him to St. Francis Seminary of Loreto, Pa. Rev. Teczar said he never got any “reports” from the seminary other than grades but he was dismissed from St. Francis in January 1967, he said. He was within three months of completing his studies, he said.

Mr. Hardoon asked what happened. Rev. Teczar said he was a deacon and was assigned to an internship at a parish in Pennsylvania. His job was to assist at Mass and help out in the parish. He said a friend from Pennsylvania State University came over to the parish for a visit. “I asked two priests to borrow a car to bring him back to Penn State,” he said.
     He was told he was being dismissed for that reason since interns are not to ask pastors for anything, he said. “So after five years and six months of seminary and you are on the way to ordination, and you are dismissed from the seminary for asking to borrow a car?” Mr. Hardoon asked.

“I asked for a car. That's the reason they gave me,” Rev. Teczar said.

Bishop Flanagan assigned him to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Winchendon, from February to June 1967 to serve as a deacon. It was a chance for him to improve, he said. A letter from the Winchendon pastor went to Bishop Flanagan discussing his progress in the parish. The pastor raised the issue of then-Deacon Teczar taking a bicycle ride with a young man. During this time, he applied to the School of Sacred Theology in Washington, D.C., he said. He did not complete the process but Bishop Flanagan assigned him to St. Paul Cathedral. “He called and said he was going to ordain me,” he said. The ordination was in December 1967. The bishop sent him back to school to finish “the gaps in my education.”

Under questioning by Mr. Hardoon, Rev. Teczar said he worked as a counselor the summer of 1966 at the Nazareth Home for Boys in Leicester, which at the time was run by Monsignor Edmond T. Tinsley. He was dismissed from that job for breaking a rule. He said he gave a bath to a 10-year-old boy. Rev. Teczar said the boy was having a difficult day and was given a bath and went to bed.

After ordination, he served four months at Our Lady of Lourdes, Worcester, and then was transferred to St. Joan of Arc parish, Worcester, where he served until 1971, when he was transferred to St. Mary Church in Uxbridge, where he met Mr. Lewcon.

Mr. Hardoon asked whether he was “asked to leave” that parish in 1972. “That is right,” Rev. Teczar said. He went to St. Ann Church of Leominster where Mr. Hardoon suggested he was “asked to leave” in December 1975. “That is too strong a word,” Rev. Teczar said.

He served a year at St. Aloysius Church in Gilbertville before moving to Immaculate Conception of Worcester. Mr. Hardoon asked whether Rev. Teczar was asked to leave. “Oh, no,” the priest answered. He was assigned to Sacred Heart parish, Gardner, in 1980 where he served until 1984. He was then moved back to St. Aloysius, where he became a pastor. The diocese removed him from active ministry 11 months later, he said.

Rev. Teczar will continue his testimony at 9:30 a.m. Monday in room 18 of Worcester Superior Court.

September 30, 2002

Sex abuse civil case could set precedent: Lawyers test how juries will see the scandal

by Robin Washington, Boston Herald

WORCESTER - A week ago, the Diocese of Worcester received widespread condemnation - followed by praise - when its lawyer attempted to subpoena names from a sex abuse victims' group before the bishop intervened.

But in another case, the spotlight remains on clergy sex abuse here, where for the first time in seven years a civil case against a priest has gone to trial in the Bay State.

And though the benches are nearly empty of spectators in the Superior Court case of Lewcon vs. Teczar, the legal community is watching it closely.

``None of the clergy abuse cases have gone to trial in recent memory. It will be interesting to see how a jury responds,'' said Carmen Durso, a lawyer with several clergy cases, including a conspiracy charge against the Archdiocese of Boston.

Added Mitchell Garabedian, who represents scores of alleged priest victims: ``This trial will give the jury an opportunity to make a definite statement as to the liability of a priest when he was having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old child.''

The age of David Lewcon of Webster, now 48, at the time of his alleged abuse at the hands of the Rev. Thomas Teczar in 1971 is an issue central to both sides.

Because Lewcon was 16 when the alleged molestation began, Teczar's lawyers contend he was beyond the age of consent.

``The age of consent for being touched without penetration is 14,'' said Louis P. Aloise, one of two lawyers representing Teczar.

But Lewcon has a different understanding.
``It's 14 if it's a criminal charge, but in a civil case you're still considered a child up until 18 years old,'' he said, echoing a stance taken by John Daignault, a McLean Hospital psychologist who has examined Lewcon.

In several days on the stand, Aloise grilled Daignault, challenging his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress syndrome based on the abuse.

``He admitted he never heard of a diagnosis of PTSD where the underlying event was consensual,'' Aloise said.

But Daignault countered that Lewcon was very much a child when the abuse occurred. He also said Teczar's misuse of his collar was a part of the abusive relationship, and at one point he asked Aloise to refrain from referring to his client as ``Mr. Teczar.''

`It's Father Teczar,'' Daignault said. ``That's the issue.''

Both Lewcon and Aloise have experience in priest sex abuse cases - Lewcon winning a undisclosed settlement in a suit against diocese officials two years ago for his abuse by Teczar, and Aloise in representing the Rev. Ronald Provost, the last Bay State priest to go to trial in a sex abuse civil case.
At the start of that case, Aloise said, the majority of prospective jurors had sympathies tilting toward the church. This time, he said, ``Fifty percent of prospective jurors were excused because of biases against the church.''

Lewcon's case is expected to go to the jury this week.
In related developments:

In another Superior Court case, Durso filed a suit for two brothers alleging molestation by the Rev. Henry Banach in the sacristy of St. Hedwig's Parish in Southbridge in the 1980s.

A man who rents a basement apartment in Shrewsbury from Sime Braio, an alleged victim of Worcester Diocese Bishop George E. Rueger, said in a deposition released last week he witnessed a church official visiting the house with ``a black bag'' - which Braio has suggested was cash in an attempt to buy his silence.

Glen Anderson also said he overheard a phone call by Braio to church officials and disputed the diocese's assertion that Braio attempted to extort the church by threatening to take his claim to the press if not paid.

A Worcester Diocese spokesman was unavailable for comment on the Banach and Reuger cases.

In the Springfield Diocese, Garabedian filed a suit charging the late Rev. Richard J. Ahern sexually abused a boy beginning when he was 12 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Pittsfield 30 years ago.
The alleged victim, Donald Smith, who later became a Eucharistic minister at St. Michael's in Springfield, said yesterday he decided to act after hearing Bishop Thomas Dupre and other clerics belittle the scandal following Mass last Palm Sunday.

``I had carried around this guilt for 30 years,'' Smith said. ``I was very upset. I quit the church.''

October 3, 2002

Teczar jury to get early start today

By Kathleen A. Shaw,Telegram & Gazette Staff  

WORCESTER-- The jury in the civil suit against the Rev. Thomas Teczar deliberated for about 2.5 hours yesterday before asking to adjourn for the day.

Judge Peter Velis asked jury members at 4:30 p.m. whether they wanted to continue their deliberations. They said no and the judge excused them for the day. He initially scheduled deliberations to resume in Worcester Superior Court at 9:30 a.m. today. The foreman said the jury wanted to begin at 9 a.m. The judge set a compromise and both sides agreed to resume 9:15 a.m.

The jury sent two questions to the judge from the deliberation room. One asked about the statute of limitations for this type of sexual abuse allegation. They later asked the judge to define the term “reckless intention.” The judge said he would give them the definition when they reconvene this morning.

David A. Lewcon, of Webster, is suing Rev. Teczar, alleging that he caused him psychological harm when he sexually abused him at age 16.

The case is drawing statewide and national attention from within the legal community and among alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse because it is one of the few suits involving a priest that has gone to trial. Most have been settled out of court without a trial.

Carmen L. Durso, a Boston lawyer handling clergy abuse suits in Worcester, and ......., who is also handling local suits, said it is rare for a priest to be involved in a trial and the legal community is watching to see how a jury looks at these kinds of cases.

In his closing argument, lawyer Laurence E. Hardoon, of Boston said the jury must consider specific points. The first is who was telling the truth. Mr. Lewcon testified that Rev. Teczar had sexual contact with him while Mr. Lewcon was a parishioner of St. Mary's of Uxbridge. Rev. Teczar was assigned there in 1971, replacing the Rev. Thomas A. Kane.

Another aspect is for the jury to determine as best it can the losses to Mr. Lewcon, Mr. Hardoon said.

Louis P. Aloise, a lawyer for Rev. Teczar, in his closing argument asked the jury to consider why it took Mr. Lewcon more than 25 years to report the abuse.

Mr. Lewcon testified that he was not aware of the harm done by his relationship with Rev. Teczar until he saw a 1993 television program on a civil suit brought by an alleged victim of Rev. Kane. Mr. Aloise and co-counsel Michael C. Wilcox have argued that Mr. Lewcon was at the statutory age of consent when the incidents occurred and he readily participated in the sexual encounters.

Dr. John Daigneault, a psychologist from McLean Hospital in Belmont, testified that the psychological community accepts age 18 as the time when a person is able to truly consent to sexual relations.

Mr. Aloise also argued that Mr. Lewcon not only consented to the first sexual encounter, but “went back” to the rectory where another sexual contact occurred. The jury was asked to consider how Mr. Lewcon “begged” his parents to attend an outing to a Teczar family home at Cape Cod which resulted in another sexual encounter.

Rev. Teczar was ordained in 1967 and served in several parish assignments in the diocese before the diocese said he could no longer function as a priest. He was not defrocked, however.

October 4, 2002

Jury rules Teczar committed abuse

By Kathleen A. Shaw,Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- A jury decided yesterday that the Rev. Thomas Teczar sexually abused David A. Lewcon and caused him harm, but it declined to award him any money.

The verdict was reached after 3 p.m. in Worcester Superior Court after a day of deliberation in the civil trial.
     “No one won here today,” said Louis P. Aloise, a lawyer for Rev. Teczar. The lives of both men were altered, he added. He called the priest abuse scandal that has deeply affected the Catholic church in the United States a “national tragedy” that needs to come to an end.

Michael C. Wilcox, his co- counsel, said the church probably should set up a pool of funds to reimburse victims. Rev. Teczar was advised by his lawyers not to comment on the jury's decision.

Laurence E. Hardoon, lawyer for Mr. Lewcon, said he did not know what to make of the verdict. “They believed him,” he said. Mr. Lewcon, stunned by the outcome, said he did not know what to say.

The jury had been asked to determine whether Mr. Lewcon needed to have understood how the alleged abuse harmed him before he started dealing with the issue in 1993. The jury said no.

Mr. Lewcon said his case did not involve repressed memory syndrome because he never forgot what happened to him in 1971 when he was 16. He said he did not understand that he had been harmed by the alleged sexual encounters until 1993 when he saw a television news report about allegations made against the Rev. Thomas A. Kane, former director of the House of Affirmation in Whitinsville.

The jury ruled that Rev. Teczar committed “reckless infliction of emotional distress” on Mr. Lewcon, but judged that it was not intentional. The jury also found that Mr. Lewcon suffered harm as a result of the defendant's conduct.

Mr. Lewcon testified during the trial that Rev. Teczar invited him to his room in St. Mary's rectory, Uxbridge, and gave the teen-ager a back rub, and the encounter ended with mutual masturbation. This happened on two other occasions, at the rectory and at the home of Rev. Teczar's parents in Worcester, he said.

The jury ruled that the reckless infliction of distress by the priest was not a substantial contributing factor in bringing about harm to Mr. Lewcon.

Mr. Aloise said the verdict in the jury trial was strikingly similar to one returned seven years ago when a victim sued the Rev. Ronald Provost, former pastor of St. Joseph's parish in Barre, for harm he suffered after the priest took nude and seminude photographs of him. Mr. Aloise represented Rev. Provost in that suit. He said the only difference between the two was that the issue was negligence and not reckless intention.

The jury sent a question on Tuesday to Judge Peter Velis asking for a definition of reckless intention.

 The judge conferred with lawyers for both Mr. Lewcon and Rev. Teczar to agree on the wording before the jury entered the courtroom. He told the jurors that reckless intention had to be more than an accident, mistake, negligence or gross negligence.

Mr. Hardoon noted that a number of the jury members were young and some were middle-aged. He said most or all were college-educated and several held master's degrees.

Rev. Teczar arrested on charge from Texas

Kathleen A. Shaw, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- The Rev. Thomas H. Teczar was arrested yesterday on a governor's warrant in connection with a charge in Texas that he sexually abused an underage person.

He was released on personal recognizance after appearing before Judge John S. McCann in Worcester Superior Court. Arrangements are being made for him to voluntarily return to Texas.

Lawyer Michael C. Wilcox, who is representing Rev. Teczar with Louis P. Aloise, said the man making the sexual abuse allegation is in prison in Texas. Rev. Teczar denied any involvement with the man, who admitted that at one time he was a teenage prostitute, Mr. Wilcox said. He said there still is no indictment against Rev. Teczar. He said the process has been slowed because the complainant appears to be "unreliable.'

Mr. Wilcox said Rev. Teczar is ready to return to Texas when law enforcement officials in that state are ready to accept him.

Mr. Wilcox said Rev. Teczar wanted to voluntarily surrender in January but Texas authorities asked them to hold off because he had not been indicted. The Texas charge of aggravated assault on a child was made 10 years after Rev. Teczar moved back to Massachusetts, he said.

Rev. Teczar already had a charge of being a fugitive from justice, also on a warrant from Texas, pending in Dudley District Court. Rev. Teczar, 61, now lives in Webster. The two warrants relate to the same investigation, Mr. Wilcox said. He said the issuance of the governor's warrant was routine and part of the legal process to return him to Texas, he said.

Rev. Teczar was ordained as a priest of the Catholic Worcester diocese but was placed on leave several years ago and is not permitted to function as a priest.

District Attorney John J. Conte said Rev. Teczar was arrested in December on a fugitive from justice warrant from Texas and was arraigned in Dudley. The case was continued and he was free on $30,000 bail.

Then a governor's warrant relating to the same issue was executed through a sheriff's department in Texas. The warrant went to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney signed the warrant on Friday and Rev. Teczar was arrested yesterday, Mr. Conte said.

District Attorney Russell Thomason, who is investigating the case in Texas, was not immediately available for comment.

In Worcester Superior Court yesterday, Judge McCann stayed the governor's warrant and released Rev. Teczar on personal recognizance.

The Texas charge against Rev. Teczar originated through the new national policy adopted last June by the American bishops. Bishop Joseph Delaney of the Fort Worth diocese got a complaint from a man regarding abuse by Rev. Teczar. The complainant has not been publicly named.

Bishop Delaney referred the allegation to police under terms of the policy and the Texas Rangers agreed to investigate.

Rev. Teczar served in parishes in Texas from the late 1980s until 1993, when he quickly left the state during a criminal investigation into child molestation, according to Bill Dowell, a prosecutor in Eastland County, Texas. Mr. Wilcox denied that he fled or left quickly and said Rev. Teczar left in the normal course of events in his life.

A Worcester Superior Court civil jury in October found that Rev. Teczar was responsible for sexual abuse of David A. Lewcon of Webster when he was assigned in 1971 to St. Mary's Parish, Uxbridge, but declined to award monetary damages to Mr. Lewcon.