During some of the darkest periods of modern history on the SouthCoast, Paul Walsh Jr. worked to shine the light of justice.

Walsh, who led the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office for 16 years in prosecuting several high-profile cases, and took unprecedented steps to lift what he called “the shroud of secrecy” that covered a shocking sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Diocese of Fall River, has died. He was 70. 

Walsh was a New Bedford native and the son of Dr. Paul “Doc” Walsh Sr., a dentist who entered politics at the local and state levels, becoming a prominent New Bedford School Committee member for 36 years, chairman of the state Racing Commission, and clerk magistrate of Wareham District Court.

Read more from Dan Medeiros at heraldnews.com.