WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2002
NATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Friend testifies against priest
The Associated Press
BOSTON — The highestranking Boston Archdioceseofficial implicated in the sex scandaladmitted molesting three boys more than 20 years ago, a formerBoston Bruins hockey player saidin sworn testimony filed Monday.
The athlete, Chris Nilan, is a friend of the priest, Monsignor Frederick J. Ryan, who was vice chancellor under then-Boston Cardinal Humberto Medeiros.
Ryan sexually abused David Carney and two others, and maintained a sexual relationship with one of the two others up until three years ago, Nilan said in June when questioned in a lawsuit brought by Carney against Ryan and the archdiocese.
Nilan, 44, a friend of the three alleged victims, said he confronted Ryan after allegations surfaced earlier this year.
"I needed some answers for my own sanity," said Nilan, whose wedding was performed by Ryan. "Having done confession with him before, I had to hold him to supposedly what his morals and values of the church were."
Lawyers for Ryan and the archdiocese did not immediately return calls for comment.
Nilan's lawyer, Francis J. DiMento Jr., said his client "really didn't want to be involved in this" but understood his legal responsibility to 'testify. Asked about Nilan's specific allegations, DiMento said he had nothing to add to what was in the deposi-
"I needed some
answers for my own sanity."
Chris Nilan Friend of alleged molestation victims
tion, and said it was unlikely that Nilan would comment himself.
Ryan was pastor of a church in Kingston and oversaw 16 parishes when the charges arose. He is suspended and has in the past refused to comment.
Ryan was a chaplain at a Boston parochial school where Nilan and Carney both played hockey, though they were nine years apart. Nilan played in the National Hockey League for 13 years, 10 with the Montreal Canadians. He also played for the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.
Also Monday, Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte said retired priest Paul Desilets, who was indicted on 32 counts of indecent assault and battery, had been arrested in Canada.
Prosecutors allege Desillets abused 18 former altar boys between 1978 and 1984 at Our Lady of Assumption Parish in Bellingham. Conte requested the priest's extradition in August. Desillets was to be arraigned in Canada Tuesday.
Desilets had refused recent requests for comment but in February told The Associated Press allegations against him were "exaggerated."
Electronic attack briefly cripples Internet
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—An unusually powerful electronic attack briefly crippled nine of the 13 computer servers that manage global Internet traffic this week, officials disclosed Tuesday. But most Internet users didn't notice because the attack only lasted one hour.
The FBI and White House were investigating. One official described the attack Monday as the most sophisticated and large-scale assault against these crucial computers in the history of the Internet. The origin of the attack was not known.
Seven of the 13 servers failed to respond to legitimate network traffic and two others failed intermittently during the attack, officials confirmed.
The FBJ's National Infrastructure Protection Center was "aware of the denial of service
attack and is addressing this matter," spokesman Steven Berry said.
Service was restored after experts enacted defensive measures and the attack suddenly stopped.
The 13 computers are spread geographically across the globe as precaution against physical disasters and operated by U.S. government agencies, universities, corporations and private organizations.
"As best we can tell, no user noticed and the attack was dealt with and life goes on," said Louis Touton, vice president for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Internet's key governing body.
Brian O'Shaughnessy, a spokesman for VeriSign Inc., which operates two of the 13 computers in northern Virginia, said "these sorts of attacks will
happen."
"We were prepared, we responded quickly," O'Shaughnessy said. "We proactively cooperated with our fellow root server operators and the appropriate authorities."
Computer experts who manage some of the affected computers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were cooperating with the White House through its Office of Homeland Security and the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board.
Richard Clarke, President Bush's top cyber-security adviser and head of the protection board, has warned for months that an attack against the Internet's 13 so-called root server computers could be dramatically disruptive.
times normal amounts. One said that just one additional failure would have disrupted e-mails and Web browsing across parts of the Internet.
These experts said the attack, which started about 4:45 p.m. EDT Monday, transmitted data to each targeted root server 30 to 40
Monday's attack wasn't more disruptive because many Internet providers and large corporations and organizations routinely store, or "cache," popular Web directory information for better performance.
"The Internet was designed to be able to take outages, but when you take the root servers out, you don't know how long you can work without them," said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a security organization based in Bethesda, Md.
Although the Internet theoretically can operate with only a single root server, its performance would slow if more than four root servers failed for any appreciable length of time.
Fire allegedly set as revenge
The Associated Press
BALTIMORE — Hundreds of people cried and prayed Monday next to the charred home where a mother and five of her children were burned to death, police say, because the woman tried to stand up to neighborhood drug dealers.
Mourners at the candelight vigil held hands and gathered around a stage by the burned-out row house, which still smelled of acrid smoke. Mayor Martin O'Malley led the group in prayer for an end to drug-related violence.
"We are going to pull this city together as we've never been pulled together because we have a responsibility to the little ones that gave their lives across the way for us," O'Malley said.
Some who came said they were worried about the future of one of America's most violent inner cities. One mourner, Lola Jenkins, called the area "a killing ground."
"It was something that I just had to do," she said of attending the vigil, her grandchildren by her side. "It's something that all of us have to do."
The deaths of Angela Dawson, 36, and the five children were the latest chapter in what appeared to be a running battle between the woman and local drug dealers.
Then, last Wednesday, fire tore through the home again.
Neighbors described Dawson as a concerned mother who was threatened after she tried to force dealers off her street corner. The family's house had been firebombed two weeks earlier, but they escaped injury.
killing Dawson and the five children—Carnell Dawson Jr., 10; Juan Ortiz, 12; twins Kevin and Keith Dawson, 9; and LaWanda Dawson, 14.
The only survivor was Dawson's husband, Carnell Dawson Sr., who was burned over 80 percent of his body. He fractured his pelvis jumping from an upper floor window to escape the fire that gutted the three-story home and remains in critical condition, police said.
Darrell Brooks, 21, has been charged in the attack. Prosecutors allege Brooks kicked in the door, poured gasoline on the floor and lit the fatal blaze.
Police said Brooks has a "drug history" and started the blaze to get back at Dawson after she complained to authorities about the dealing. He is being held without bail on charges of arson and first-degree murder.
At Monday's vigil, Angela Dawson's brother, John Harrington, spoke of a recent sleepless night he had trying to compose a poem about the death
"One thing we can't forget is the love that she had for her children,"he told a crowd gathered around the stage.
Earlier at City Hall, O'Malley said city officials were searching for better ways to take violent drug dealers off the streets. He said he was hopeful that up to 75 more parole and probation agents will be hired to go after repeat offenders who have violated parole.
The city was in a crisis, O'Malley said, because residents fear reporting drug dealers to police.
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