Role Priest Name Richard Lavigne | Criminal status released | |
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Born 1941 (age 74–75) United States | ||
Occupation former Catholic priest | ||
Richard Roger Lavigne (born 1941) is a former priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts. Lavigne has been 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 and was the only suspect named in the unsolved 1972 murder of 13-year-old 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 in that case. Lavigne was removed from the ranks of the clergy by the Vatican on 20 November 2003. Lavigne has registered as a sex offender and currently resides in Chicopee, Massachusetts.