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	Judge Awards $4.4M to Victim of Abusive Priest By Betty Adams Morning Sentinel July 12, 2009 http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/6594439.html AUGUSTA -- A judge on Friday awarded more than $4.4 million to a former altar boy who said he was sexually abused in 1985 by a priest, the Rev. Ronald N. Michaud, now of Augusta and Florida. Justice Joseph Jabar signed the judgment in Kennebec County Superior Court against Michaud and in favor of Steven F. Boyden. Boyden, in a civil lawsuit filed in 2007, said Michaud sexually abused him in January 1985 when Michaud was stationed at St. Hyacinth's Parish in Westbrook where Boyden's family were parishioners. According to the lawsuit, the abuse occurred after Michaud invited Boyden, who was then 15, to join him in northern Maine for a trip to Quebec Winter Carnival. It says Michaud supplied the youth with alcohol before he sexually assaulted him. Jabar awarded Boyden $3.46 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Boyden's attorneys, Sumner Lipman and Keith Varner, of Lipman Katz & McKee in Augusta, had sought $10 million in damages. "This is the third award in cases we have handled where priests have been accused of sexually abusing young children," Lipman said. "A million dollars in punitive actions speaks very, very loudly to the damage and harm that occurred. These figures to a large extent are representing the tremendous harm done to these people," Lipman said. Boyden also sued the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, claiming the bishop should have known Michaud was abusing minors and should have protected Boyden. Lipman said that portion of the case "was satisfactorily resolved within the last year." He said he could offer no further details on that settlement. Boyden, 39, suffers from a psychiatric disorder and his father, John H. Boyden, serves as his conservator or guardian. John Boyden, who testified Thursday, described the family as "full-time RVers." Steven Boyden suffers "distressing nightmares and other intrusive experiences related to the childhood abuse," according to a written presentation by Lipman and Varner. "Father Ronald Michaud took Steven Boyden's youth away from him and has taken his enjoyment of life away and has taken his future away." Michaud has few assets and has been through bankruptcy, according to information at a court hearing on Thursday afternoon. "You could ask for $100 million, but I guess it's not an issue for the court whether it could be paid," Jabar told Lipman at the hearing. Jabar issued his award on Friday. "Now that we have the judgment, I can look at various ways to try to collect the money," Lipman said. Michaud lost the case by default on June 9, 2008. He appeared Thursday in superior court and was represented by attorney Justin Andrus. After the brief hearing to determine damages, Andrus said he and his client had no comment. Michaud, 62, was removed from the ministry in 1989 after he was accused of sexual abuse of a minor involving an incident in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore where Michaud had been ordained. Michaud, a native Mainer, had transferred to the Diocese of Portland in 1979. There was no indication that criminal charges were filed against Michaud. In January 2008, a former student at St. Mary's School in Augusta, William Picher, won a default judgment in a civil complaint against the Rev. Raymond Melville. Picher said Melville abused him between Sept. 2, 1986, and June 9, 1988. Jabar awarded Picher $3.2 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. In the other case, Michael Fortin of Sidney was awarded $500,000 in damages against Melville, and he settled with the church for an undisclosed amount. In that case, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in 2005 that the protections of church leaders are limited when weighed against the welfare of children. Fortin alleged he was sexually abused by Melville for seven years beginning in 1985, when Fortin was 13 and Melville was his parish priest in Augusta. Melville left the priesthood in 1992. Betty Adams - 621-5631 or badams@centralmaine.com
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