« Man appears in court on charges he sexually assaulted toddler son | Main | Pope defrocks Tucson priests »
August 05, 2004
Ex-priest pleads guilty to abuse
Case involving 2 male teenagers occurred in 1950s
By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff | August 5, 2004
DEDHAM -- Leo P. Landry, a former Stigmatine priest, pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually abusing two male teens in 1958 and 1959 and was sentenced to a lifetime of probation.
The sentencing in Norfolk County Superior Court helped close a chapter in the lives of the two former seminarians who were abused on the grounds of Elm Bank seminary in Wellesley, a nearly idyllic spot for study and spiritual growth that became what one victim called a ''hunter's lodge" where Landry was ''among the lead predators."
A number of conditions were also placed on Landry, who has also admitted abusing young teen males in New Hampshire and been sued there. Landry must not contact the two victims or have unsupervised contact with children, he must register as a sex offender in Colorado, where he now lives, and he must submit a DNA sample.
Landry, 74, was charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 and two counts of indecent assault and battery on children over the age of 14. He left the Stigmatines, a small Catholic order, in 1972.
There was no trial, because the sentence was the result of a plea bargain. During the hearing, he did not appear to look directly at either victim. When one of the victims, John Vellante of North Andover, read an impact statement, Landry kept his eyes lowered to a copy of the text.
Landry did look at a poster board picture Vellante held up, showing him as an eighth-grader wearing a bow tie. Vellante said this was how he looked when he entered the Stigmatines' now-defunct Elm Bank minor seminary for high school boys in 1958.
''I was 13, away from home for the first time, and very naive," said Vellante, a former Globe employee. ''You, Mr. Landry, were my spiritual counselor and took full advantage of that position of power."
His voice cracking, Vellante asked Landry to apologize to his 88-year-old mother, who cried ''for days" when she learned of the abuse by a family friend. Landry performed John Vellante's wedding ceremony and joined the family to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of Vellante's parents.
''She baked for you, Mr. Landry, and did your laundry, and fed you, and took you on family outings," Vellante said. ''She trusted you, and you violated that trust in a way she can't fully understand."
During the time the two victims attended the seminary, Elm Bank had 10 to 15 teachers and no more than 30 students. Classes were small, and some teachers were brilliant, former students said. Students worked hard on the parklike grounds of the school, nestled in a bend of the Charles River, and also had time for sports and contemplation. The Globe has reported that four men alleged that they were molested by five Stigmatines, including Landry, at the school between 1955 and 1961.
Jeanmarie Carroll, assistant Norfolk district attorney, read an impact statement by the other victim, identified only as ''DS."
''I was a faithful and devoted altar boy and an enthusiastic, idealistic young seminarian when I met you," Carroll read from the statement by DS. ''Today I have zero faith and a visceral avoidance of all things religious." The statement said DS went through nearly 45 years of psychotherapy.
Both victims described the emotional and financial toll the abuse took on them and their family members. Neither recommended jail time for Landry.
Landry made no statement after the impact statements and declined to comment.
Several victims of clergy abuse and others attended to show support for those in the Landry case.
After his time with the Stigmatines, Landry became a parish priest in New Hampshire. In 2002, during an investigation of alleged abuse in the Manchester Diocese, he told the New Hampshire attorney general's office that he had molested a number of young males in that state, according to a report by the office. A spokesman for the Stigmatines could not be reached for comment.
Landry could be criminally prosecuted, unlike many other priests accused of sexual abuse, because the clock for the statute of limitations stopped when he left the state on different occasions for long periods.
Posted by Nealus at August 5, 2004 04:49 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
