Rev. Paul A. LaCharite, Episcopal priest charged with sex abuse, found dead

From Boston-

An Episcopal priest who was arraigned earlier this month in a Somerville courtroom on charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted a child who was a former parishioner has died, his lawyer and the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts said on Wednesday night.

“With sorrow I received news this evening that the Rev. Paul LaCharite has died, an apparent suicide,” Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of the Episcopal Diocese said in a statement. “This is a shocking tragedy, and I’ve asked our diocesan community to pray for everyone concerned.”

LaCharite, 65, had pleaded not guilty on Sept. 10 to charges that he sexually assaulted the former parishioner, who is now 26, over a ten-year period at the St. James Episcopal Church in Somerville, where the priest had been assigned from 1989 to 2005.

“This is an unspeakable tragedy,” said David Meier, a lawyer for LaCharite, who was found dead on Wednesday night in Boston. “Father Paul LaCharite was truly an innocent man who was driven to the depths of despair by a false accusation.”

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http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/09/26/rev-paul-lacharite-episcopal-priest-charged-with-sex-abuse-found-dead/0xZxI1LmCrQr7oZ4xUZPvK/story.html