Friday, December 13, 2002
The man labeled as falsely accusing Monsignor Michael
Smith Foster of sex abuse was discredited by a flood of unsubstantiated
allegations that church investigators - and in some cases Foster himself -
knew to be untrue, the Herald has learned.
Paul R. Edwards, 35, of Winchendon, who in August filed suit claiming he had been molested by Foster and the late Rev. William J. Cummings in the 1980s, was labeled a false accuser after Foster's supporters said Edwards had a long history of fabrication.
But their allegations - including claims Edwards lied about being a police officer on Martha's Vineyard and that in the 1980s he visited Foster in the priest's bedroom at Newton's Sacred Heart parish rectory - are contradicted by evidence in the church's own files showing both contentions to be true.
A two-month Herald investigation of the Edwards-Foster case also found that many of Edwards' statements could be verified.
In the church's internal probe, Foster admitted that Edwards was alone with him in his bedroom. Yet Foster remained silent as his supporters repeatedly claimed it would have been ``impossible'' for the boy to enter the room without being seen.
``Was Paul Edwards ever in the bedroom part of your suite?'' the Rev. Sean M. Connor, the church's chief investigator, asked Foster.
``Yes,'' Foster replied. He added, ``Adults and kids moved in and out freely'' through priests' quarters, even though church policy strictly forbids such activity.
Foster denied outright that he undressed or inappropriately touched Edwards. But he said he could not ``categorically deny'' the teenager ever sat on his bed. Foster also said he had ``no clear recollection'' if Edwards told him of the alleged abuse by Cummings, who died of AIDS in 1994.
Yet the Rev. Rodney J. Copp, a member of the archdiocese's powerful Metropolitan Tribunal, headed by Foster, confirmed to Connor that Edwards told Copp in 1991 that Cummings raped him.
``Paul did speak to Father Copp about sex abuse by the late Father William Cummings,'' the church's report said. ``Father Copp responded, `First of all, Paul, I believe you.' ''
The report said Edwards' response to Copp - who did not report the incident - was ``Thank God, thank God you believe me!''
The church probe, released in court records filed yesterday, began after a lawsuit was filed on Aug. 14 on behalf of Edwards by his former attorney, Eric J. Parker.
In the suit, Edwards claimed he was inappropriately touched by Foster over several years. He separately asserted he was raped by Cummings on an overnight trip of Our Lady Help of Christians teenagers to New York.
But soon after the filing, former members of the Sacred Heart Youth Group banded together to support Foster.
In an Aug. 22 Boston Globe article, the group, organized by Linda Amicangioli, contended the rape could not have occurred because the New York trip was not an overnight stay.
The Globe article also detailed Edwards' ``penchant for fanciful invention,'' quoting group members saying Edwards as a teen inexplicably pretended to be deaf, that he claimed to have been a Martha's Vineyard police officer and, in 1974, lied about being in the movie ``Jaws'' when it was filmed on the island.
The article also questioned the legitimacy of Edwards' paralysis, calling him a ``self-described paraplegic.''
Within days, Parker asked to be dismissed from the case, citing ``new evidence.'' Edwards withdrew the suit ``with prejudice,'' meaning he could not refile it.
Foster - who had been placed voluntarily on administrative leave pending the probe - held a press conference in the offices of Bischoff-Solomon, a public relations firm he had hired, to announce his exoneration.
But two weeks later he was suspended yet again - after Edwards told Connor his story in person.
Edwards said his lawyer abandoned the case because shortly after the suit was filed, Edwards checked himself into a mental health institution for post-traumatic stress disorder. ``(He) was concerned . . . how the archdiocese would use that,'' Edwards said in the meeting.
Edwards also corrected himself on a key point - telling Connor that the abuse by Cummings took place on an overnight ski trip and not on the New York visit.
``I could have sworn that trip was to New York but apparently it was not,'' he said.
He also presented documentation of his employment as a summer police officer on the Vineyard; a certificate showing he had taken an American Sign Language class in high school, where he would sign to his deaf friends; and several written diagnoses of ``flaccid paraplegia secondary to unknown spinal cord injury'' by Dr. James Kolb at Burlington's Lahey-Hitchcock Clinic.
In the Herald investigation, which took place before Foster's file was released, the newspaper found:
``I just felt so sorry for him,'' she said, recalling also that he said the abuse took place on a ski trip.
``He was interested in deafness and sign language. We have a large number of hearing students who take the class,'' he said. ``If he were in the program, we would know if he was pretending to be deaf.''
``Are they saying he's faking it? That he's let his body wither away all these years so that he can ride around in a wheelchair?'' said Rick Middleton, a former Boston Bruin and friend of Edwards. ``I've seen him go headfirst out of his wheelchair. It makes me sick even talking about this.''
On Martha's Vineyard, police chiefs Timothy S. Rich of Chilmark and Paul Condlin of Edgartown confirmed Edwards was a summer police officer over four years.
``He was in fact a police officer with police powers,'' Rich said.
And in an undated letter of recommendation for Edwards, Foster himself acknowledged the teen's summer job, writing: ``Whether here at the parish, his summer work with the Edgartown Police, or his interaction with his peers, Paul Edwards exhibits a sensitivity and respect for others.''
Edwards made the claim about ``Jaws,'' which was filmed on Martha's Vineyard with scores of locals as extras, in 1974, the Globe article said. The article did not note that Edwards would have been 7 years old at the time.
Amicangioli, who organized the campaign of former friends, told the Herald following Foster's second reinstatement last month she only had ``third hand'' stories of Edwards' embellishments - a contradiction of her testimony in Foster's file that she knew ``first hand'' Edwards was lying.
Foster, in an interview with the Herald, refused to comment on Edwards. He referred comments on Cummings to archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey, who did not respond to several requests asking if the Cummings investigation was still open.
Morrissey would not elaborate on how the final decision to reinstate Foster was reached, ``except to say this case is closed.''
Reportedly out of fear of legal retaliation, Edwards refused to speak publicly about the case, even though Foster has stated several times he would not sue Edwards, citing an archdiocese policy.
Yet Foster's lawyer, Peter Hermes, has indicated otherwise, sending Edwards a letter threatening legal action ``should Mr. Edwards make any future statements that Monsignor Foster considers defamatory.''
Bill Gately, New England co-coordinator of the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests, called the investigation by the archdiocese and Foster's response ``extremely troubling.''
``Paul has more tangible proof to validate his background than most of us,'' said Gately, who has spent hours with Edwards reviewing his documents, including the results of a polygraph test about the case that Edwards passed.
``I don't understand how having all this information they can deem Paul not credible.''
| LAW
RESIGNS; Victims' group urges new probe of Foster
Boston Herald; Boston, Mass.; Dec 14, 2002; ROBIN WASHINGTON; Abstract: A pair of articles in yesterday's Herald showed that documents in [Michael Smith Foster]'s personnel file show numerous allegations made by Foster's supporters attacking the credibility of alleged victim Paul R. Edwards were untrue. The Edwards-Foster saga began in August, when Edwards filed suit claiming abuse by Foster and another priest, the late William Cummings. Days later, supporters of Foster leveled allegations against Edwards, charging he was a chronic liar since childhood.
A victims advocacy group has called upon Bishop Richard G. Lennon, the newly named apostolic administrator for the Archdiocese of Boston, to reopen the sex abuse investigation of Monsignor Michael Smith Foster. Foster, who heads the Boston church's Metropolitan Tribunal, had his suspension lifted in late October after church investigators found his accuser not credible. But a pair of articles in yesterday's Herald showed that documents in Foster's personnel file show numerous allegations made by Foster's supporters attacking the credibility of alleged victim Paul R. Edwards were untrue. David Clohessy, national executive director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said Lennon should immediately reimpose Foster's suspension and renew the probe as part of a new spirit of openness. "He should remove him as job one," Clohessy said. "Foster's still out there and many people still think he's falsely accused." The Edwards-Foster saga began in August, when Edwards filed suit claiming abuse by Foster and another priest, the late William Cummings. Days later, supporters of Foster leveled allegations against Edwards, charging he was a chronic liar since childhood. Edwards withdrew the suit with prejudice, meaning that he cannot bring up the claim again, though the church probe continued when Edwards brought his complaint to the archdiocese in person. At that session, Foster's file and a separate Herald investigation confirm, he produced documents that proved "lies" former friends attributed to him were in fact true statements - including that he had been a summer police officer on Martha's Vineyard and that he had been in Foster's rectory bedroom at Newton's Sacred Heart parish in the 1980s. In the church probe, Foster admitted Edwards had been in the room. Yet the priest remained silent as his supporters repeatedly said it would have been "impossible" for the boy to have been in the room without being spotted. "Foster's behavior just stands in such stark contrast to that of (Chicago's late Joseph) Cardinal Bernadin, who, when accused, was very open, very straightforward and very Christian in his response," Clohessy said. "He never once attacked his accuser or encouraged others to do so." Foster's file does not offer an explanation for the decision to reinstate him. Archdiocese spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey did not respond to a request for comment on SNAP's demand. |
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