Death of an Altar Boy tells the sad story behind the 1972 murder of a 14-year-old Massachusetts boy and how the Catholic Church’s history of whitewashing priest abuse was the cause and the reason it went unsolved until now. The death of Danny Croteau faded from newspapers and memory for 20 years, until the Boston abuse scandal exploded and it was revealed that his parish priest was the only suspect. Everyone, including his superiors, assumed he was the murderer, and still does. But he was not alone.

After reviewing over 10,000 pages of police and court files, and interviewing investigators, Danny’s family and friends, fellow abuse victims, and church officials, E.J. Fleming uncovered the truth about what happened to Danny. For the first time, Death of an Altar Boy exposes church complicity in the cover-up and hiding their priests’ involvement with an organized ring of abusive priests active at the time of the killing. A strong case is also made for the identity of the ring members who participated in the murder.