A defrocked priest imprisoned for child sex abuse in Massachusetts died in a Maine prison on Friday, according to the Department of Corrections.
Ronald Paquin, 83, had been serving time for abusing an altar boy during trips to the state in the 1980s.
Paquin was found guilty of 11 of 24 counts of gross sexual misconduct in November 2018. He was ordered to serve 16 years in prison.
Paquin also spent more than a decade in a Massachusetts prison for sexually abusing an altar boy from Haverhill. He was released in 2015 and taken into custody in Maine in 2017.
His cause of death was not revealed.
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents church abuse survivors, released the following statement,
“...The death of Fr. Paquin brings a measure of relief to many clergy sexual abuse victims and survivors because they feel as though Fr. Paquin will no longer be able to sexually abuse children and destroy innocent lives.
With all due respect, society has not lost a great human being."
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW