(CNN) A defrocked US Roman Catholic priest is set for release from prison 12 years after his conviction on child rape charges, a Massachusetts prosecutor said Tuesday.

Paul Shanley was among the first clergymen to stand trial after the Boston Globe's Spotlight team unearthed allegations against priests of serial child sexual abuse and coverups by the Boston Archdiocese.

The scandal reverberated through the church, exposing similar allegations worldwide that compromised its moral authority and led to years of multimillion-dollar settlements.

Shanley was 74 years old when a Middlesex County jury convicted him in 2005 of repeatedly raping a boy from his parish in the 1980s. His victim, who was 27 years old during the trial, testified that Shanley regularly pulled him out of Sunday catechism class for what he called "special duties" and molested him in various rooms of St. John the Evangelist, a defunct parish in the Boston suburb of Newton. After one day of cross-examination from Shanley's lawyer, who tried to cast doubt on the victim's recollections and credibility, the victim begged the judge to not make him return to the stand.

Prosecutors asked for a life sentence on two counts each of child rape and indecent assault and battery, but Shanley received 12 to 15 years.

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