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Shanley Wants New Trial

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May 29, 2008 7:37 am US/Eastern

Shanley Wants New Trial

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Paul Shanley, a notorious priest in the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Boston Archdiocese, is challenging the repressed memories of his victim in a bid for a new trial.

A judge is expected to hear arguments on Shanley's motion in Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday afternoon. 
 
The defrocked priest is serving a 12- to 15-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2005 of repeatedly raping a boy at a Newton parish in the 1980s.

In a motion for a new trial, Shanley claims his former lawyer did not properly challenge the repressed memory evidence that helped convict him. The victim testified he repressed memories of the sexual abuse until 2002, when they came back as the sex abuse scandal unfolded in the media.

Shanley was once known for being a "street priest" who reached out to troubled children and homosexuals.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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