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The judge also took it upon himself to instruct jurors to "disregard inconsistencies in Mr. Grover's testimony," and said that they should not think him dishonest because of his failure to answer questions. The jury had much to disregard.

Interesting article that ran on the Journal editorial page on Wednesday and Thursday. Other articles/discussion on the story may be found here and here, and the NH Attorney General's report on the MacRae case here

About his own moral lapses--grave violations of his vows--Gordon MacRae required no clarifications. He was a priest who had failed twice to resist temptation, once, briefly, with a married woman who had declared her love and need for him--a saga with elements of "The Thorn Birds" and, in larger part, farce. There was a one-night encounter, during his leave of absence from the parish, with Tony Bonacci, a highly intelligent 16-year male friend and a dependent of sorts.

*I am fine with Bi-Ritual Priests. However, Bisexual Priests tend to be problematic.

From the Keene Sentinel, April 30, 2005

Officer defends work on MacRae case

Sentinel staff

Saturday, April 30, 2005

A Keene police officer says he stands by his investigation that led to the conviction of a Catholic priest for child sexual assault in 1994.

Detective James F. McLaughlin, who has built a speciality in probing child abuse cases, says there was adequate evidence to convict Gordon MacRae of raping a 15-year-old boy.

McLaughlin’s investigation, along with other aspects of the case, came under criticism this week in a series of editorial page columns in the Wall Street Journal by Dorothy Rabinowitz, a member of that paper’s editorial board and an accomplished writer about false sex abuse claims.

In her columns, she found fault with the prosecution of the case, which led to MacRae’s sentencing to a minimum 33 years in prison, as well as the judge, the defense counsel, the plaintiffs and the Catholic church, but her main focus was on McLaughlin, as well as what she termed a legal system that opens itself to a “scam” by personal injury lawyers.

In an interview this week, McLaughlin told the Concord Monitor that Rabinowitz “selected bits and pieces (of information) to support her position” that MacRae was wrongly convicted in Cheshire County Superior Court.

He said that Rabinowitz ignored facts in the case, adding, “Ultimately, a jury sat and dealt with live witnesses and testimony and decided differently.”

The Wall Street Journal articles did not introduce any significant new information regarding the case.