Richard R. Lavigne
BornFebruary 18, 1941
United States
DiedMay 21, 2021(2021-05-21) (aged 80)
Greenfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationCatholic priest
Conviction(s)Child sexual abuse

Richard Roger Lavigne (February 18, 1941 – May 21, 2021)[1][2] was a laicized priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts and convicted sex offender. Lavigne was at the center of the priest abuse scandal in the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts with about 40 claims of sexual abuse of minors placed against him.

He was removed from ministry by Bishop John Marshall in 1991. He pleaded guilty to two counts of child sexual abuse on June 26, 1992,[1] and was the only suspect named in the long-unsolved 1972 murder of 13-year-old altar boy Danny Croteau of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1994, DNA tests failed to link Lavigne to the Croteau murder, and the Hampden County District Attorney, William Bennett, did not bring any charges against Lavigne.[3] Lavigne was laicized by the Holy See on November 20, 2003.[4] According to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry, Lavigne spent the last two years of his life "in violation", and his last known residence was in Chicopee.[1]

Lavigne died in May 2021 of acute hypoxia respiratory failure, as a result of COVID-19-related pneumonia,[5] just hours after the Hampden County district attorney Anthony D. Gulluni's office had begun preparing an arrest warrant in the 1972 case, based on deathbed admissions by Lavigne of specific details. Gullini declared Lavigne responsible for the death of Danny Croteau.[3][6]

Two Springfield, Massachusetts Roman Catholic bishops, Christopher Joseph Weldon (1905–1982) and Thomas Dupre, were named as pedophiles who each covered up the abuse and murder of Danny Croteau by Lavigne, who was in their charge.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Level 3 Sex Offender - Richard Roger Lavigne". Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  2. ↑ Fleming, E.J. (2018). Death of an Altar Boy: The Unsolved Murder of Danny Croteau and the Culture of Abuse in the Catholic Church. Jefferson, North Carolina: Exposit Books. ISBN 978-1476673455.
  3. 1 2 Cramer, Marie (May 29, 2021). "Ex-Priest Dies Just Before Facing Charges in 1972 Killing of an Altar Boy". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. ↑ Zajac, Bill (January 21, 2004). "Vatican defrocks Lavigne, Springfield, MA Priest". Springfield Republican. Retrieved 2009-04-22 – via SNAP.
  5. ↑ Ellement, John R.; Andersen, Travis (May 24, 2021). "Hampden DA identifies former Catholic priest as killer in 1972 slaying of 13-year-old Danny Croteau". Boston Globe. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  6. ↑ Barry, Stephanie (May 24, 2021). "'Danny Croteau died at the hands of Richard Lavigne,' DA says in closing 50-year-old case". Mass Live. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Cullen, Kevin (October 28, 2021). "After visiting Canada, Pope Francis might want to stop off in Springfield". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

Further reading

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