The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 25, 2003, Page 3, Image 3
POLICE REPORT
Each number on
the map stands
for a crime
corresponding
with numbered
descriptions in
the list below.
DAY CRIMES
(6a.m.-6p.m.)
□ Violent
O Nonviolent
NIGHT CRIMES
(6p.m.-6a.m.)
■ Violent
• Nonviolent
CRIMES AT
UNKNOWN
HOURS
El Violent
@ Nonviolent
Tuesday, Aug. 19
O MALICIOUS INJURY TO
PERSONAL PROPERTY, GREEN
STREET The complainant said
that an unidentified person
threw a brick at the windshield
of his truck, breaking it and
causing damage estimated at a
value of $350.
Thursday, Aug. 21
O ASSISTANCE RENDERED,
MIDDLEBERG DRIVE The victim
said she fell on the stairs in the
lobby of a building and that she
injured her knee. She was taken
to a local hospital for treatment.
Reporting officer: D. Pardue. (Off
Map).
Friday, Aug. 22
O DRIVING UNDER THE
INFLUENCE, GREEN AND
LAURENS STREETS Reporting
officer E.L Pereira pulled up to
an intersection behind a
Chevrolet Tahoe in an eastbound
lane and waited for about 30
seconds while the traffic light
was green. Pereira then
approached the Tahoe’s driver
side window and found James
Stewart Wingo Jr. asleep behind
the wheel. Pereira revived
Wingo and noticed a strong smell
of alcohol coming from the car.
Wingo then failed three field
sobriety tests and was arrested
for Driving Under the Influence.
Former priest involved in Catholic church
sex abuse scandal dies in prison attack
BY ROBERT O’NEILL
THE ASSOCIATED PBESS
BOSTON - Former priest John
Geoghan, a convicted child mo
lester at the center of the sex abuse
I scandal that shook the Catholic
church nationwide, died after ap
parently being strangled by a fel
low inmate convicted of murder,
authorities said.
Geoghan, 68, was attacked just
before noon Saturday by Joseph
L. Druce, 37, said Worcester
District Attorney John J. Conte.
Geoghan died at 1:17 p.m., shortly
after he was taken to UMass
Memorial Health Alliance,
, Leominster Campus, Conte said.
Preliminary indications are
^ that Geoghan was strangled,
Conte said. An autopsy will be
conducted Monday.
Druce, who received a life sen
tence in 1989 for murder, armed
* robbery and other counts, was
placed in isolation and will face
murder charges in Geoghan’s
death, Conte said.
In 2001, Druce was Charged
with mailing a threatening letter
containing white powder and
indicating it was contaminated
with anthrax.
The incident happened at
Souza-Baranowski Correction
Center, about 30 miles northwest
oi Boston,
Department of
Correction
spokeswoman
Kelly Nantel
said. Geoghan
was being held
in protective
custody to
shield him from
the general
prison popula
tion, but he still
had some contact with other in
mates who were also in protective
custody.
In civil lawsuits, more than 130
people have claimed Geoghan sex
ually abused them as children dur
ing his three decades as a priest at
Boston-area parishes.
He was convicted last year of
indecent assault and battery for
fondling a 10-year-old boy at a
swimming pool. Prosecutors
couldn’t bring charges in other
cases because the statute of
limitations had expired.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attor
ney for many Geoghan victims,
said he was “surprised and
shocked” by Geoghan’s death.
lviany oi my
clients would
have rather
seen Father
Geoghan serve
out his time in
jail and endure
the rigors of fur
ther criminal
trials, so that
his pedophile
acts could have
been exposed
further,” he said.
The church abuse scandal,
which has had repercussions
worldwide, broke in early 2002
with revelations that the Boston
archdiocese had shuttled Geoghan
from parish to parish despite
warnings about his behavior.
With the public outcry reach
ing a new crescendo, the bishops
adopted a toughened policy
against sex abuse and more than
325 priests of the roughly 46,000
American clergy were either dis
missed or resigned from their du
ties in the year after the Geoghan
case.
The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a
spokesman for the Archdiocese of
Boston, offered prayers for
Geoghan’s family.
“Upon hearing the news of the
tragic death of John Geoghan, the
Archdiocese of Boston offers
prayer for the repose of John’s
soul, and extends its prayers in
consolation to his beloved sister,
Kathy, at this time of personal
loss,” he said.
Geoghan was defrocked in 1998
at Cardinal Bernard Law’s urging.
Law stepped down as archbishop
of the Boston Archdiocese in
December, 11 months after the re
lease of Geoghan’s files.
One of his victims, Ralph
DelVecchio, said Geoghan de
served prison but didn’t deserve
to be killed.
“I wouldn’t say he deserved to
die, you know?” DelVecchio said.
“He was in jail — that’s where I
believed he should be.”
DelVecchio said he didn’t wish
ill on Geoghan.
“It’s over with,” he said.
Authorities say John
Geoghan was strangled
by a fellow inmate while
serving life in prison for
molesting a child. He
was convicted last year
in Massachusetts.
Bid Day
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
•V
Chi Omega member. “We get to
meet tons of them, as many as
possible and then'try to get a feel
for what they’re like and if they
would fit in.”
Some potential new members
said they weren’t intimidated by
going through the many de
manding activities of recruit
ment in their first few days of
college.
“It’s helped a lot because you
get to meet a lot of really nice
people who are really helpful,”
said first-year psychology stu
dent Kara Van Buskirk.
She also said the Rho Chi
members, who are disaffiliated
sorority members who act like
mentors to the potential new
members, helped her with
getting moved in and finding
classes.
“I’ve been helping these girls
find chapters and what will be
their homes for the next four
years, and it’s really made the
process exciting,” said fourth
year finance student Elizabeth
Jones, who was serving her first
year as a Rho Chi.
She said her duties made her
an impartial assistant, who
couldn’t even reveal what soror
ity she belonged to.
In the end, the smiling and
anxious new members had the
chance to hug their new sisters,
have photos taken and be ac
cepted into sisterhood in only
their first week at USC.
“The waiting has probably
been the hardest part of it,”
Horn said. “Just waiting here
now is making everyone a little
nervous, so I’m just ready to find
out and run.”
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