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Judge trims Shanley bail to $300,000

By Globe Staff, 5/11/2002

Middlesex Superior Court judge yesterday reduced to $300,000 the cash bail of $750,000 that was set on Tuesday for the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, who was returned from California after being charged with three counts of raping a Newton boy during the 1980s.

Judge Charles J. Hely, noting that the charges against Shanley ''are among the most serious in the law short of murder,'' denied a defense request that Shanley be released on his own recognizance. He said substantial bail was warranted.

The $750,000 figure was set on Tuesday by Newton District Judge Dyanne J. Klein at the request of prosecutors over the objection of Frank Mondano, Shanley's attorney.

After a hearing on Thursday during which Mondano and Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Lynne Rooney sparred over Rooney's contention that Shanley was a flight risk, Hely in his decision yesterday sided with the prosecutor.

Shanley, he wrote, had no prior notice that he would be charged with a crime. ''There is a likelihood that if he had had advance notice of the charges he would not have voluntarily returned to the Commonwealth to face the charges,'' Hely concluded.

As of last night, Shanley remained in custody. Mondano said on Thursday that Shanley's relatives and friends are willing to help him post bail.

The judge ruled that if Shanley does post bail, he must surrender his passport and reside at a fixed address in Massachusetts until trial.

This story ran on page A4 of the Boston Globe on 5/11/2002.
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