Cardinal Law didn't look at allegations against Shanley before

BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law said he promoted a now-indicted priest without looking at his personnel file, which showed sexual abuse complaints dating to 1966, according to testimony transcripts released Tuesday.

Law said repeatedly that he relied on the recommendations of subordinates and scattered church records in deciding whether to return priests to parish work even after receiving sexual abuse allegations against them.

Written transcripts and videotapes of Law's June deposition in lawsuits filed against him and others related to alleged abuse by the Rev. Paul Shanley were made public Tuesday.

Shanley, 71, is in jail awaiting trial on child rape charges. He was indicted in June on charges that he abused boys 6 to 15 years old from 1979 to 1989 while he was a priest at a church in suburban Newton.

The Boston Archdiocese is at the center of a nationwide priest sex-abuse scandal that erupted after it was disclosed that Law knew of accusations against former priest John Geoghan but continued to shuffle him between parishes. The archdiocese has been hit with hundreds of allegations against dozens of priests.

Complaint sent

Under questioning from Roderick MacLeish, an attorney for Shanley's alleged victims, Law acknowledged that a complaint was sent to the archdiocese in 1966 alleging that Shanley had sexually abused a boy.

But Law said he did not examine Shanley's personnel file, which contained that allegation and others, before promoting Shanley in 1985 to pastor at St. Jean's parish in Newton.

Law also said he did not recall reading a 1985 letter from a woman who said Shanley gave a talk in which he said, "When adults have sex with children, the children seduced them."

MacLeish presented Law with a copy of a letter in which Bishop John McCormack told the woman Law had received her letter.

Law said the church's records were kept in "a lot of disparate places" and that he had no reason to believe Shanley had been abusing children. He has said he had no knowledge of allegations against Shanley until 1993.