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| Murdered inmate bore officers' abuse, inmate says |
| By Boston Globe |
| Published: 09/12/2003 |
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In a letter written to a lawyer seven months before defrocked priest John J. Geoghan was strangled in a cell, an inmate said that he had seen officers abuse Geoghan in Concord state prison and that he had written to top state corrections officials about the abuse of Geoghan and other inmates. In his letter, the inmate cited a dozen examples of abuse. The inmate wrote that he had seen officers defecate 'in John Geoghan's bed and destroy his property,' according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Globe. According to the letter, dated Jan. 31, the inmate had previously complained about the protective custody unit at Concord to the office of the Correction Commissioner Michael T. Maloney. 'I have written several letters to the commissioner's office pertaining to the living conditions on that unit, and how the COs go out of their way to tune up inmates,' he wrote, referring to correctional officers. The inmate's lawyer said 'tune up' was an expression for abusing inmates. A spokesman for Maloney said the commissioner's office receives numerous letters from inmates. Spokesman Justin Latini said he would not comment on the inmate's allegations without knowing his name. The inmate's lawyer said his client has an established record of writing complaint letters to Department of Correction officials and other state offices. 'He is not shy,' said the lawyer, who asked that neither he nor his client be identified because it would complicate the lawyer's own investigation into the allegations. The identities of the officers named in the letter are not being used because the officers could not be reached to comment. Stephen Crawford, a spokesman for the prison officer's union, declined comment on the allegations contained in the letter. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly confirmed yesterday that a letter from the inmate was received on April 9, 2002, but she said the attorney general's office declined to investigate the inmate's allegation of being beaten by an officer. She declined to provide other details. In the Jan. 31 letter to his lawyer, the inmate referred to another letter he said he sent to the attorney general's office. 'Because I filed a complaint,' he wrote, 'I was sent to the Shirley max,' referring to the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster. When he was killed, Geoghan, 68, was serving a 9- to 10-year sentence for molesting a 10-year-old boy. Allegations that he sexually assaulted nearly 150 children, mostly boys, helped spark the clergy sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church. Authorities said another inmate Joseph Druce beat Geoghan and used a bed sheet to gag, bind, and strangle the former priest after getting into Geoghan's cell in the protective custody unit at Souza-Baranowski. Latini said that Maloney assigns staff members to investigate letters from inmates when it is deemed appropriate. |
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