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Law faces more questioning on priest scandal

Cardinal Law arrives in Boston last week for his deposition.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Testifying under oath, Cardinal Bernard Law displayed anger during the third day of his deposition about how he handled the case of a priest accused of being a serial child molester, two alleged victims said Monday.

The two, who sat in on the session at the Archdiocese of Boston's chancery, said the cardinal was questioned about a letter from a treatment center where John Geoghan -- who has since been kicked out of the ministry and sent to prison for molesting a boy -- had gone following allegations of sex abuse.

In the letter, according to alleged victim Mark Keane, doctors said they could not guarantee that Geoghan would not molest children again.

"Cardinal Law refuses to recognize that there was a probability that he could do this again," Keane said.

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"They already knew he was a pedophile for so many odd years, then sent him there and there was still a low assurance" that he wouldn't molest children again, added Patrick McSorley, another alleged victim of Geoghan.

Yet, according to the men and a lawsuit filed against the archdiocese, Geoghan was allowed to continue ministering, even as the allegations mounted.

The two spoke during a midday break in the deposition, ordered by a court after a proposed settlement between 86 alleged victims of Geoghan and the archdiocese collapsed. The archdiocese's financial council refused to approve the settlement, citing the emergence of additional allegations that could further strain the church's financial resources. The settlement could have cost the archdiocese up to $30 million.

"He's completely out of his element, very angry at times," Keane said of Law. "He would state his answers very firmly." He described the cardinal as "losing his temper -- if he can do that."

The cardinal has been sharply criticized by some alleged victims and their attorneys who say he has displayed a selective memory about the Geoghan case.

Before Monday's session started, the two men expressed their disappointment with how Law has answered questions in the deposition, which began last week.

"It seemed like he knew more than he was saying and he was holding a lot back," said McSorley, commenting on the two earlier sessions. "Hopefully, things change today and, hopefully, we hear some of the truth."

"I don't know what's worse -- that he doesn't recall seven boys being raped or he's lying about it," Keane charged.

Mitchell Garabedian, one of the attorneys representing the 86 plaintiffs, said he wants to ask Law why he allowed Geoghan to have access to children, even as abuse allegations against him mounted. And he said he also wants to question Law about why the proposed settlement was scuttled.

Law was first deposed Wednesday. In that session, according to a transcript, Law said he relied on medical and psychiatric expertise to guide him in his decisions on how to handle the Geoghan case.

The cardinal was again deposed Friday, but acting on a request from attorneys for the archdiocese, a judge decided not to immediately release the transcript from the deposition.

Instead, Law will have 30 days to review and correct the transcript before submitting it to the court. Attorneys representing plaintiffs described the move as standard procedure.