Death of an Altar Boy

The tragic death of 13-year-old Danny Croteau in 1972 faded from headlines and memories for 20 years until the Boston abuse scandal—a string of assaults within the Catholic Church—exploded in the early 2000s. Despite numerous indications—including 40 claims of sexual misconduct with minors—pointing to him as Croteau’s killer, the Reverend Richard R. Lavigne remains “innocent.” Drawing on more than 10,000 pages of police and court records and interviews with Danny’s friends and family, fellow abuse victims, and church officials, the author uncovers the truth—church complicity in a cover up and the masking of priests’ involvement in a ring of abusive clergy—behind Croteau’s death and those who had a hand in it.

The late E.J. Fleming researched Hollywood for decades and penned biographies of Carole Landis and Wallace Reid, among other books. He lived in the country in Connecticut.

E.J. Fleming

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 296
Bibliographic Info: 31 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7345-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3203-2
Imprint: Exposit Books

Acknowledgments 1
Prologue 3
1. Danny 7
2. Dickie 29
3. Death 44
4. Contagion 72
5. Exposed 85
6. Trials 97
7. Resurrection 110
8. Downfalls 124
9. Predator 145
10. Murderer? 164
11. Killer 175
12. Legacies 198
Chapter Notes 233
Bibliography 261
Index 281