A former Gilman School chaplain and faculty member will spend five years on probation after admitting Wednesday to sexually abusing a boy in Baltimore during the 1970s.
The Rev. Laurence LaPointe, 81, now of Putnam, Connecticut, appeared in Baltimore Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to fourth-degree sex offense and assault. Circuit Judge Charles Dorsey III, who presided over the case, commended the survivor for his courage in coming forward.
“I’m hoping that you will be free now, and that you will have some peace,” Dorsey said.
LaPointe was a chaplain at the private, independent all-boys school in Roland Park from 1966-1970 and then worked as a faculty member from 1973-1977. He most recently served as pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Willimantic, Connecticut.
“I pray for him, for all victims of abuse,” LaPointe said during the hearing of the victim.
The Diocese of Norwich reported that it placed LaPointe on leave after learning that the Connecticut Department of Children and Families was investigating him over a claim of abuse of a minor in the state in the 1970s. He denied the accusations.
“The clergy abuse crisis has caused profound harm to victims, their families, and the Church,” Bishop Richard Reidy said in a prior statement. “The Diocese of Norwich maintains a zero-tolerance policy for any cleric, employee, or volunteer found to have abused a minor.”
In a previous email to the school community, Gilman Head of School Henry Smyth and Andrew Brooks, president of the Board of Trustees, wrote that time “does not diminish the pain of abuse, and our hearts go out to the survivors harmed by LaPointe’s conduct.
“We will do all we can to support law enforcement in their efforts,” they wrote. “but also to support survivors on their paths toward healing.”
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General brought the prosecution.
This story will be updated.
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