James Porter (Catholic priest)

Early life

Porter started both training for the priesthood and molesting children at a young age; he abused his earliest known victim in 1953, the summer before he entered seminary. He was ordained in 1959 and became a priest of the diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts.

Crimes

Porter was assigned to St. Mary's parochial grammar school in North Attleboro, Massachusetts in April 1960 and put in charge of the altar boys. Porter gained a reputation there as a child molester, but no action was taken against him by the Catholic Church until 1963, by which time at least four parents had complained to his superiors about his inappropriate behavior. Rather than contact the police, however, Church officials moved Porter to a parish in Fall River, where further complaints about his behavior surfaced. In the early 1960s, more than 60 North Attleboro children were sexually victimized by James Porter, and nearly 100 in southeastern Massachusetts.

In 1964, Porter was arrested for molesting a 13-year-old boy and sent to a mental institution for 13 months. Once released, he was quickly reassigned to another parish, the first of many such reassignments over the years. He was shuffled into two more parishes before more accusations piled up and he was hospitalized again in 1967, this time to a hospital run by fellow priests who practiced holistic psychotherapy upon its patients, many of whom were clergy members suffering from psychological problems. Porter's "problem" was not unique among the hospital's patients; two of them were later imprisoned for abusing, between them, hundreds of children.

Porter was released after a few months, once again declared cured, and given probationary assignments in parishes in Texas, New Mexico and Minnesota, all of which included access to children. Complaints surfaced by the dozen against Porter, but none of them resulted in disciplinary action beyond his being moved from post to post.

In 1973, Porter wrote a letter to Pope Paul VI requesting to be released from the priesthood, in which he admitted molesting children across five states. The Pope granted his request and, in 1974, Porter gave up his collar. He married, and eventually settled in Minnesota. He and his wife had four children.

Caught

In 1990, Frank Fitzpatrick went public with accusations that Porter had molested him as a child in the '60s. Over the next two years, Fitzpatrick contacted the state police, the FBI, and the media, resulting in over 200 people coming forward and leveling charges of abuse against Porter. In the early 1960s, more than 60 North Attleboro children were sexually victimized by James Porter, and nearly 100 in southeastern Massachusetts. In 1992, a series of investigative reports by ABC News producer Grace Kahng on Porter's crimes aired on Primetime Live, hosted by Diane Sawyer, which sparked national attention.

The initial ABC News Primetime Live broadcast revealed Porter had abused over 100 children in Massachusetts. Sawyer interviewed 30 adults who had been raped as elementary school children by Porter. The investigation revealed that instead of removing Porter after parents reported the abuse, the Catholic Church had moved him to a treatment center and then to Bemidji, Minnesota, where he continued to rape dozens of children. Primetime Live interviewed 30 of Porter's victims and their parents, and confronted the priest who had knowingly transferred Porter from Massachusetts to Minnesota. They also contacted Porter himself, who still had contact with children as a Sunday school teacher at his church. The ABC News investigation discovered and interviewed a local babysitter who said she had also been sexually abused by Porter in 1984. After the report aired, it was discovered that Porter had also molested the babysitter's younger sister, a crime that was within the statute of limitations. This development allowed local Minnesota authorities to finally arrest Porter. Before Porter's arrest, Sawyer and her producer confronted the former priest at a local carnival. Porter initially tried to flee the cameras, and then turned and physically attacked the camera crew. After tackling the camera man, Porter fled on foot.

Arrest and first conviction

Within weeks of the ABC News broadcast, Porter was arrested, tried and convicted of sexually abusing his children's babysitter. He served four months of a six-month prison sentence before his conviction was overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The Porter case caused a national outcry and the U.S. Conference of Bishops adopted new guidelines for handling priests charged with child molestation.

Second conviction and imprisonment

By 1993, dozens of lawsuits had cropped up against Porter in Minnesota, Texas and New Mexico; in Minnesota alone, he was charged with over 200 counts of sexual abuse. Porter's lawyer struck a plea bargain, and Porter was sentenced to 18–20 years in prison, with the possibility of parole, with counseling, after six years. Parole was consistently denied for several years. He completed his prison sentence in 2004, but was held until his death pending a civil commitment hearing.

Death

Porter died February 11, 2005, of cancer at New England Medical Center in Boston, where he had been transferred the month before from a Massachusetts hospital.

In popular culture

The 1995 Law & Order episode "Bad Faith" and the 2010 Law & Order: UK episode "Confession" were based on Porter's case. His crimes were also referenced in the 2015 film Spotlight.