MAINE
Portland Press Herald
BY RACHEL OHM MORNING SENTINEL
rohm@centralmaine.com | @rachel_ohm | 207-612-2386
CANAAN — Community members said Saturday that they were shocked and saddened to learn that a local youth ministry director allegedly sexually abused a young girl at his home in Clinton.
Lucas Savage, 37, co-director of Youth Haven Ministry on Easy Street, is charged with unlawful sexual contact and was arrested Friday by state police.
“I trusted him with my daughter,” said Kristine Rice, a Canaan resident who said her 11-year-old daughter used to attend ministry programs at Youth Haven. Savage was also her daughter’s soccer coach through the Canaan Community Sports program, Rice said.
“I talked to him in church and he was my daughter’s soccer coach. He never gave me any indication that there was anything to be concerned about, but if police are arresting him, they must have proof. The whole thing is very sad,” said Rice, 34.
She said she and Savage both attend Canaan Calvary Church. The church has supported Youth Haven Ministry financially in the past, but the two organizations are separate and have different boards of directors, according to a news release Saturday from the church’s elder board.
The Maine Department of Public Safety originally reported Friday that Savage was a youth pastor at the church, but the statement Saturday from the church said he never has been a youth pastor there, though he is a member of the church.
“The church leadership will be doing everything in our ability to support and minister to all families involved. We are making ourselves available to anyone involved or affected by the situation,” the release said. “Our ultimate desire is to see that the truth is brought forth. That being said, we will do everything in our ability to completely cooperate with the ongoing investigation, and we hope and believe that all involved will do the same.”
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