“Father Cuenin apparently failed to practice what he preached when urging disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law to resign during the clergy sexual abuse crisis in Boston,” stated Mitchell Garabedian, the attorney representing the male victim who preferred to remain anonymous. Cuenin, now living in a Virginia nursing home and confined to a wheelchair, denied any sexual misconduct allegations, claiming ignorance of the situation. Despite the apparent contradiction between the allegations and his past advocacy, Cuenin maintained his innocence, stating, “They can interpret it as they wish.”
Garabedian, known for his efforts in exposing sexual abuse within the Boston Catholic Archdiocese, filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 20-year-old victim against Cuenin. The lawsuit alleges that Cuenin invited the victim to accompany him on a trip to New York City, where the abuse occurred in a hotel room. The victim reportedly suffered severe emotional and physical distress as a result.
Cuenin, a former chaplain at Brandeis University, denied some of the claims made in the lawsuit, including drinking alcohol and engaging in sexual talk. Despite these denials, the victim’s attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, emphasized the importance of coming forward to empower survivors and protect children from abuse.
The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin served at six other Boston-area churches, including over a decade at Our Lady Help of Christians in posh Newton, MA, according to his assignment history, before being forced out from the Archdiocese in 2005 in retaliation for his speaking out against Law, he told The Globe in 2014. Shortly after, he joined the Jewish-sponsored Brandeis University. “The church got rid of me but the Jews took me in,” he told The Globe. Brandeis and the Boston Archdiocese declined to comment.
