US: One of the most outspoken victims of clerical sex abuse in Boston was found dead in a city apartment yesterday morning.
Mr Patrick McSorley (29) had been abused as a boy by defrocked priest John Geoghan, who was murdered in a New England prison last year.
Mr McSorley was in many ways the personification of church sex abuse victims in Boston, appearing frequently in the media as an outspoken critic of the church's handling of the abuse scandal.
Receiving what was thought to be a $200,000 settlement from the church in 2002, Mr McSorley was known to be suffering from heroin and alcohol addiction.
Last year he was found floating unconscious in a Massachusetts river, an episode which he denied was a suicide attempt.
"I did not try to take my own life," he said at the time. "Suicide is not the way out."
Boston police are refusing to release any information about the circumstances of Mr McSorley's death. What is known is that he died in a friend's flat in Boston's North End. The owner of the flat, Mr Alan Brini, discovered McSorley's body and notified authorities at about 1 a.m. yesterday.
Mr McSorley's troubles began at the age of 12, shortly after Geoghan visited the McSorley household to offer his sympathies on the suicide of Patrick McSorley's father. Geoghan befriended the young McSorley and the abuse commenced shortly thereafter.
After a long campaign, Mr McSorley and 85 other plaintiffs agreed a $10 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002. However, Mr McSorley went on campaigning for other victims in an effort that led ultimately to a settlement of $85 million in September last year.
At the time of his 2002 settlement, Mr McSorley said, "The money is not going to change my life. My heart is always going to be broken because of this." His lawyer, Mr Mitchell Garabedian, paid tribute to his client on hearing of his death.
"Patrick was a strong voice, an emotional voice and a heroic voice," he told the Boston Globe. Boston Archbishop Seán Patrick O'Malley offered his sympathies in a statement. "I offer my prayers for the repose of Patrick's soul and extend my condolences and heart-felt sympathy to his family and friends," he said.
Mr McSorley is survived by his two children, Patrick (4) and Joanne (2), their mother and his own mother.