No Lighter Sentence For Ex-Priest Geoghan

MASSACHUSETTS

An appeals panel refused to reduce defrocked priest John J. Geoghan’s nine- to 10-year sentence for groping a boy, a punishment his lawyer called overly harsh.

Geoghan’s attorney, Geoffrey Packard, argued that Geoghan, 66, had no prior convictions and was penalized in part due to the massive publicity surrounding his and other cases of priest sex abuse.

Geoghan was convicted in January for molesting a 10-year-old boy in 1991. He was sentenced in February to nine to 10 years, with six years of that to be served in prison, followed by life probation.

Packard asked the court to reduce his sentence to two years of prison time, with eight years of probation. He said he still intends to pursue an appeal of Geoghan’s conviction.