Defrocked priest pleads not guilty to 31 charges of sex abuse

ALFRED, Maine -- A former Roman Catholic priest who spent more than a decade in a Massachusetts prison for raping an altar boy has been re-indicted on sexual abuse charges in Maine, reports CBS affiliate WGME.

Ronald Paquin, 74, pleaded not guilty to all 31 charges against him at an arraignment Thursday morning.

The charges are for all gross sexual misconduct, and all crimes are alleged to have occured in the 1980's.

Paquin was charged with 29 counts in February and two more were recently added. He was a priest at St. John Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and according to the Portland Press Herald, authorities said when the indictments were first announced that Paquin brought boys to Maine for "short-term stays."

The alleged victims say Paquin would sexually abuse some of the boys in the parish, some as young as 9.

In 2002, Paquin was convicted of three counts of rape of a child in Massachusetts, and accused of molesting others. He spent 10 years in prison, and was released two years ago.

Paquin was defrocked in 2004.