Ex-Seekonk priest indicted on rape, assault charges by Cape grand jury thesunchronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesunchronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Cape Cod Times
A grand jury returned indictments against a former Cape pastor last Friday, with multiple counts of rape and assault and battery.
The Rev. Mark Hession was indicted out of Barnstable Superior Court on two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a child less than 14 and one count of intimidation of a witness, a superior court official confirmed Monday.
Hession was previously pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville from 2000 to 2014 and also served at St. Joan of Arc Church in Orleans. In 2009, he delivered the homily at the funeral for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Priest who gave Sen. Ted Kennedyâs funeral homily charged in sex assault case
By Travis Andersen Globe Staff,Updated December 15, 2020, 4:06 p.m.
Email to a Friend
A Catholic priest who delivered the funeral homily for Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 2009 has been indicted on charges alleging rape and indecent assault of a minor.
A Barnstable Superior Court grand jury on Friday indicted the Rev. Mark R. Hession, 62, on two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery of a person under 14, and one count of witness intimidation, court records show.
An arraignment date will be set in January, a spokesperson for the Cape and Islands district attorneyâs office said. It wasnât clear who was representing Hession, and information on the dates and locations of the alleged rapes and assault wasnât immediately available.
A grand jury returned indictments against a former Fall River and New Bedford pastor on Friday, with multiple counts of rape and assault and battery.
The Rev. Mark Hession was indicted out of Barnstable Superior Court on two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a child less than 14 and one count of intimidation of a witness, a superior court official confirmed Monday.
Hession served as parochial vicar at Holy Name Church in Fall River after he was ordained in 1984 and in 1987 was transferred to St. Mary Church in New Bedford. He also has served at St. Joan of Arc Church in Orleans and at Charlton Memorial Hospital as a chaplain.
Barbara Clark / news@barnstablepatriot.com
It’s been a challenging year for face-to-face activities, never more so than in the many communities of faith on Cape Cod, in this unique COVID year.
The Rev. Dr. Bruce Epperly, pastor at South Congregational Church, Centerville, said that the Cape’s faith communities have had to “deal with so many things happening at the same time,” from the spread of the pandemic to the social and political crises criss-crossing our country this year, yet congregations “have remained active in all sorts of different ways.” The December religious calendars bear this out, with celebrations and special services, albeit many holding to a virtual format.