[1] Porter started both training for the priesthood and molesting children at a young age; he abused his earliest known victim in 1953, the summer before he entered seminary.

Porter was assigned to St. Mary's parochial grammar school in North Attleboro, Massachusetts in April 1960 and put in charge of the altar boys.

Porter gained a reputation there as a child molester, but no action was taken against him by the Catholic Church until 1963, by which time at least four parents had complained to his superiors about his inappropriate behavior.

Rather than contact the police, however, Church officials moved Porter to a parish in Fall River, where further complaints about his behavior surfaced.

[4] Porter was released after a few months, once again declared cured, and given probationary assignments in parishes in Texas, New Mexico and Minnesota, all of which included access to children.

[1] In 1973, Porter wrote a letter to Pope Paul VI requesting to be released from the priesthood, in which he admitted molesting children across five states.

In 1992, a series of investigative reports by ABC News producer Grace Kahng on Porter's crimes aired on Primetime Live, hosted by Diane Sawyer, which sparked national attention.

The investigation and documents obtained by MacLeish revealed that instead of removing Porter after parents reported the abuse, the Catholic Church had moved him to a treatment center and then to Bemidji, Minnesota, where he continued to rape dozens of children.

[8] The Porter case caused a national outcry and the U.S. Conference of Bishops adopted new guidelines for handling priests charged with child molestation.