SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts — The first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States to be indicted on a sexual-abuse claim during a flood of abuse accusations against church officials has died. Former Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, Thomas Dupre was 83.
The Diocese of Springfield says Dupre died Friday. It hasn’t revealed the cause of his death.
Dupre became bishop in the 1990s. He cited health reasons for his sudden retirement in 2004. Months later he was indicted on charges he raped two boys in the 1970s. The case was dropped because the statute of limitations had expired.
In 2009 a man alleged a priest molested him in the 1980s and Dupre and former Bishop Joseph Maguire knew the priest had abused other boys but assigned him to the church anyway.
Dupre was defrocked in 2006. Maguire died in 2014 at age 95.
