Paul R. Shanley — Archdiocese of Boston
A Boston priest whose lawsuits the archdiocese secretly settled, and who was transferred to California with only partial disclosure. Convicted in 2005 of raping a child and sentenced to 12 to 15 years; released in 2017.
Roman Catholic Convicted
- Person
- Paul R. Shanley
- Role
- Priest
- Institution
- Archdiocese of Boston
- Location
- Newton, Massachusetts
- Status
- Convicted (2005)
- Sentence
- 12 to 15 years; released 2017
Case in brief
Tier 1 · Court-proven
Paul R. Shanley was a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston. The archdiocese secretly settled several lawsuits against him and admitted in released files to his attraction to adolescents; in 1993, when Shanley transferred to the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, Boston told San Bernardino only part of the truth, and San Bernardino’s bishop dismissed him on learning more. Shanley was arrested in San Diego in May 2002 on Massachusetts child-rape charges, and on February 7, 2005, he was convicted of two counts of rape of a child and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and sentenced to 12 to 15 years. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the conviction in 2010. He served 12 years and was released in 2017.
The institution
The Archdiocese of Boston (sending diocese) and the Diocese of San Bernardino (receiving diocese, 1993). The documented institutional facts are the secret settlements and the partial disclosure at transfer — the receiving diocese acted on fuller information when it got it.
The record
Tier 1 · Court-proven
| Item | Record |
|---|---|
| Arrest | May 2002, San Diego, California, on Massachusetts charges |
| Conviction | February 7, 2005 — two counts of rape of a child; two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 |
| Sentence | 12 to 15 years |
| Appeal | Conviction upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2010 |
| Release | 2017, after 12 years served |
Status
Sentence completed; released in 2017.
Records requested & responses
This archive has not filed records requests in this case. The file rests on the published sources below and will be updated if court or institutional records are obtained, or if that changes.
Video coverage
Verified coverage of this case, embedded from the publishers’ own channels — this archive does not download or re-upload other outlets’ video. Each segment below was verified through the YouTube Data API on October 25, 2026; the channel and date in each caption are the API’s own records.
- Associated Press via National Catholic Reporter, “Ex-priest leaves prison after serving his sentence for child sex abuse”: ncronline.org
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Commonwealth v. Shanley (2010): bishop-accountability.org
Filed October 18, 2026, from the published sources below. Minor victims are never named or identified in this file.