MAINE
Kennebec Journal
By Betty Adams
badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer
AUGUSTA — A Superior Court judge has cleared the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in the final count of a civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a former city priest against a young boy.
The ruling says the diocese did not fraudulently conceal information about prior acts committed by Raymond P. Melville that would have alerted the alleged victim or his family to any danger.
William J. Picher, of Augusta, had accused Melville of sexually abusing him while he was a student at St. Mary’s School between September 1986 and June 1988. Melville was ordained in Presque Isle in 1985 and his initial assignment was assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Parish in Augusta.
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