Convicted ex-priest challenges repressed memories

BOSTON -- The highest court in Massachusetts has heard arguments in an appeal by a former Catholic priest seeking a new trial based on a challenge to an alleged child rape victim's claim of repressed memories.

Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was one of the central figures of the Boston area's clergy abuse scandal.

The victim said he did not remember the abuse for two decades until media coverage of the scandal in 2002.

Shanley's lawyer went before the Supreme Judicial Court Thursday. Last year, a Superior Court judge rejected Shanley's bid for a new trial, finding that the theory of repressed-recovered memories, though controversial, is generally accepted in the scientific community.

The 78-year-old Shanley is serving a 12- to 15-year sentence for child rape and indecent assault and battery.

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