Outspoken clergy abuse victim dies
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- An outspoken victim of clergy sex abuse, Patrick McSorley, was reported dead Monday morning by Boston police.
His attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Boston police told him in a telephone call at 5 a.m. that his 29-year-old client died overnight at a friend's apartment in Boston's North End.
Garabedian said he did not know the cause of death.
Last June, McSorley was hospitalized after nearly drowning in Boston's Neponset River. The circumstances of that incident were not clear.
McSorley was at the heart of a lawsuit against the Catholic Church in Boston, claiming he was sexually assaulted in 1986 by the late John Geoghan -- a priest who was defrocked and imprisoned before he was killed last August by another prisoner.
"Patrick McSorley was a hero, he was a voice in the wilderness for many victims," Garabedian told CNN Radio in a telephone interview. "He stood up against the church, he stood up against the powers of the church.
"He was not going to let child abuse be swept under the rug, he was not going to let clergy sexual abuse be swept under the rug," the attorney added.
In September 2002, the Boston Archdiocese paid $10 million to settle a suit by 86 plaintiffs who said Geoghan sexually assaulted them.
McSorley's case had been settled out of court in May of 2002. Even after the settlement, he and his attorney continued to speak publicly against clergy sexual abuse.
Garabedian said McSorley sounded upbeat when they last spoke, around 3:30 p.m. Friday, by phone, saying he would call back Monday morning to set a time to meet.
Garabedian declined to speculate on the cause of death.
McSorley is survived by a son, about 4 years of age, the attorney said.
The Archdiocese of Boston said in a statement it was "aware of how distressing the news of Patrick McSorley's tragic death is for the survivors of clergy abuse and their families."
It offered a telephone number for an outreach group for anyone needing assistance.
Archbishop of Boston Sean P. O'Malley said McSorley's death "saddens everyone."
"I offer my prayers for the repose of Patrick's soul and extend my condolences and heart-felt sympathy to his family and friends," O'Malley said in a statement.
Geoghan was found guilty in January 2002 of molesting a boy in a swimming pool a decade earlier and was serving a nine- to 10-year sentence at the time he was killed.
More than 130 people accused him of sexual abuse during his 30-year career in six parishes. Geoghan was defrocked in 1998.
