Man awarded .6M in priest sex abuse case

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A jury is awarding a former altar boy nearly .6 million because the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington didn't protect him from an abusive priest in the 1970s.

The jury returned the verdict against the diocese on Wednesday after a weeklong trial in the lawsuit filed by the now 43-year-old Maryland man.

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The plaintiff says he was groped on two separate occasions by former Vermont priest Edward Paquette when the victim was a boy.

Paquette was not on trial. Earlier this year a separate jury awarded a different plaintiff .7 million.

A second trial ended in a hung jury. Wednesday's award included 2,500 in compensation and .4 million in punitive damages.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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