Burlington Catholic Diocese Names 40 Priests In Abuse Report

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington released the findings of a nearly ten month long investigation Thursday into decades of alleged abuse.

All but one of the accusations revealed in the report happened before 2000.

John Mahoney, 65, of Burlington grew up in the Queen City with a large Catholic family.

“Father Foster told me I was blindfolded so that I would feel comfortable,” he said.

Mahoney says he was betrayed by a man he was taught to trust, Fr. Edward Foster. It started when he was in 7th or 8th grade, during a trip to Montreal for what the priest told him was a wellness study.

“All of this part of the study was done while I was in the nude,” he said. “After the exercise sessions, father foster indicated that someone who has exercised deserves a good rub down,” according to Mahoney.

Foster is just one on a list of 40 clergy members accused of sexually abusing children. Only 13 are alive.

Read more at My Champlain Valley

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