A defrocked priest at the center of the sex abuse scandal that rocked the US Roman Catholic Church in recent years, went on trial charged with child rape and indecent assault and battery.
A "street priest" who ministered to disadvantaged youths in the 1960s and 70s, Paul Shanley has been accused in civil lawsuits of molesting dozens of children, although his indictment on criminal charges in mid-2002 focused on just four victims.
Shanley, 73, is one of the few priests brought to criminal trial over the abuse scandal that centered on the Boston Archdiocese and first came to light about three years ago.
Because he left Massachusetts for California in 1990, Shanley effectively stopped the clock on the 15-year statute of limitations that allowed other accused members of the clergy to escape criminal prosecution.
"This is a really important case," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
"For many people, Boston remains the epicenter of this crisis," Clohessy said. "And its just so hard for many survivors to accept that this arbitrary, archaic technicality means that, even in very well documented cases of abuse and cover up, no justice is done."
Internal documents have shown that while Church officials were aware of abuse complaints circulating against Shanley in the 1960s, they continued to transfer him from parish to parish.
Legal observers say the prosecution may have a tough time convicting Shanley, not least because the number of accusers in the criminal case has been whittled down from four to just one.
Two of the alleged victims withdrew from the case last July, while a third dropped out after questioning by Shanley's defence team during the pre-trial hearings.
"If he walks free, to me the blame clearly falls on current and former church employees who have not come forward," said Clohessy. "He was a priest for decades. Surely there are people who once worked him, who know something and are keeping silent. And that's just unconscionable."
In September 2003, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay 85 million dollars to settle more than 500 civil suits accusing priests of sexual abuse and Church officials of covering up the scandal.
Another defrocked priest, John Geoghan, was convicted in February 2002 for having sexually abused a 10-year-old boy in a swimming pool. He died in a Massachusetts jail in August the following year after being assaulted by a fellow prisoner.
More than 130 people had come forward with accusations of sexual abuse by Geoghan when they were children.