Ex-priest jailed for decade indicted on new sex charges

Seacoast Online
February 8, 2017

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20170208/ex-priest-jailed-for-decade-indicted-on-new-sex-charges

ALFRED, Maine - A former Roman Catholic priest who spent more than a decade in a Massachusetts prison for raping an altar boy has been indicted on 29 counts of sexual misconduct dating to the 1980s in Kennebunkport.

Ronald H. Paquin, 74, was indicted by a York County Grand Jury on Feb. 6 on 13 counts of gross sexual misconduct, a Class A crime, and 16 counts of gross sexual misconduct, a Class B crime. Kennebunkport Police Chief Craig Sanford said the charges came about "with the help of two courageous victims and the hard work of a dedicated police investigator and District Attorney." Sanford said the alleged acts took place in the late 1980s at seasonal locations in Kennebunkport when the alleged victims were 11 and 14.

"I am glad that we were able to present a case that hopefully brings the victims some type of peace in their future and holds the offender accountable for these horrific crimes," Sanford said.

According to the indictment, the alleged incidents took place from 1985 to 1988, all in Kennebunkport.

The indictment states Paquin "had substantially impaired the other person's power to appraise or control his sex acts by administering or employing drugs or intoxicants."

Paquin, freed in 2015, was a central figure in the Boston archdiocese's sex abuse scandal. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to raping an altar boy.

Keith Townsend, of Seabrook, New Hampshire, told the Boston Globe he's a victim in the indictment. He said the abuse started when he was about 8 or 9, in Massachusetts and Kennebunkport.

The Boston archdiocese declined to comment. Paquin's whereabouts weren't known. A message was left with an attorney who represented him.

Sanford said a warrant will be issued for Paquin's arrest, after which he will be returned to Maine for eventual court proceedings. Sanford said Wednesday that he could not provide any further details.