Pedophile Priest Brutally Murdered in Prison

John Geoghan molested 130 or more children during his 30-year stature as a Catholic priest. He worked at six different Boston-area parishes until the church finally defrocked him in 1998, seven years after the abuse allegations became public. John didn’t secretly molest children, nor did he seem embarrassed by his actions when other church leaders and some of the children’s parents learned what was going on. Instead, he convinced them he had received treatment and was cured. He then urged them to stay silent to protect the church’s image. They obliged the request. When authorities finally arrested Geoghan in 2002, a judge sentenced him to a meager 10 years behind bars at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, MA.

Going to prison as a child molester is dangerous. Even hardened criminals have morals. Hurting children is breaking the criminal code, and likely will result in a good ass beating or worse when they catch up to you. When a hardened criminal is also a survivor of child molestation, worse is usually the outcome for a chomo, even while incarcerated in protective custody, the prison’s most secure area.

When Geoghan entered prison, he was placed in protective custody. Not only did he commit the most heinous of crimes per prison code, it was a high-profile case.

Meet Joseph Druce

Joseph Druce was one of the 23 inmates in PC at Souza when Geoghan arrived. Druce was serving a life sentence after he killed a man he claimed made a sexual pass at him in 1988. Prior, Druce had ties to white supremacist organizations, securing his spot in protective custody.

Druce also survived child molestation.

Inmates in PC learned quickly Geoghan was convicted of child molestation and had received a meager 10-year sentence. Druce felt sickened to learn he was sharing space with such a cruel, nasty man who used his position of power, using God as a ploy, to hurt the most vulnerable of people.

Druce Attacked Geoghan

On August 23, 2003, Druce entered Geoghan’s cell after lunch, trapped him inside, jammed the door, and then bound and gagged him before he strangled him to death with a bed sheet. He jumped off the bed onto Geoghan’s body, then plummeted the child molester with his hands.

It took several officers to pry open the door and stop Druce’s attack on Geoghan. Officers immediately realized that Geoghan was dead once they entered the cell.

An autopsy determined the 68-year-old died from ligature strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Druce Admits to Murder; Sentenced to Prison

At his trial, Druce admitted to strangling and beating the priest to death. He said that he wanted to get thoughts of his own molestation out of his head and did not like Geoghan’s arrogant responses to his questions. He said he had confronted him twice about his charges and Geoghan answered him in an ‘arrogant’ manner.

“I was just, like, ‘That’s it, that’s it, I’ve got to stop this,’ he said. “I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Druce pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, using trauma from his own child molestation as the basis for the claim. His plea was rejected and the court convicted him of murder. He was sentenced to a second term of life in prison.

Aftermath

A video showing police struggling to enter Geoghan’s cell was leaked online after the incident. The video also shows correctional officers dragging Druce out of the cell and pinning him down to the ground. It is unknown who released the footage. Inmates cannot access security footage from the prison. This has resulted in theories that correctional officers or other prison staff members planned Geoghan's murder.