William Picher, an Augusta man who has already filed a lawsuit alleging he was sexually molested by the Rev. Raymond Melville, has sued five church leaders he says should have protected him from abuse.In court papers filed Wednesday in Kennebec County Superior Court, Picher names the Rev. Joseph Ford of Falmouth, the Rev. James Morrison of Norway, the Rev. Rene Mathieu of Saco and Sister Rita-Mae Bissonette of Portland.
All of the defendants have held high-ranking posts with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
“All of these people were supervisors of Father Melville’s at one time of another and had the ability to stop what happened. They didn’t. They turned a blind eye and William Picher was abused repeatedly," Walt McKee, Picher’s lawyer, said in a press release.
Picher alleges the abuse happened in the late 1980s, when he was a student at St. Mary’s School in Augusta.
The lawsuit against Melville, which also names the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, was filed in February and remains pending.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce