Letters: Bishop knew of allegation of abuse Accused priest transferred twice after complaint

AUGUSTA – Bishop Joseph Gerry pledged to “vigorously and expeditiously” address an allegation of sexual abuse against a priest, then transferred him to at least two more parishes before he retired seven years later, according to letters released Wednesday.

A purported victim of the Rev. Ray Melville reported abuse to the bishop in 1990, two years before another man, Michael Fortin, says Melville stopped abusing him.

Sumner Lipman, a lawyer who represents Fortin in a lawsuit filed last July against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, provided copies of the letters at a Wednesday news conference.

Lipman said the purported victim, whose name he withheld, is not his client but did provide the letters to him.

Lipman hopes to use the man’s letters in court to show that the diocese knew about prior abuse by Melville, but did nothing to stop it.

The letters indicate that Gerry knew 12 years ago of at least one allegation of abuse against Melville.

On March 12, 1990, the victim wrote to Gerry that he was 14 when he became friends with Melville in 1980. The man contends that Melville, who was then a seminarian in Baltimore, abused him. The man wrote that their relationship continued until 1985, the year Melville was ordained in Maine.

“I was emotionally, sexually and physically abused by Mr. Melville,” the victim wrote. “The possible tragedy of another young boy being a victim compels me to write this letter.” The letter concludes: “Ps. Please stop this from happening again.”

Gerry sent a response one week later. “You may be assured that I will pursue the matter with the greatest diligence,” the bishop wrote. “You have my pledge to address the matter vigorously and expeditiously.”

After Gerry received the allegation of abuse in March 1990, Melville was sent away for treatment, said diocese spokeswoman Sue Bernard.

Then in August 1990, Melville was sent to St. Joseph’s Church in Lewiston, and in July 1992 he was transferred to the Church of the Holy Name in Machias.

Melville stepped down from the active ministry in 1997, but has not been defrocked.

Fortin, who now lives in Sidney, alleges that Melville abused him from 1985, when he was a 13-year-old altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Augusta, until 1992. Melville served at the Augusta church from 1985 until 1990.

In January, the church moved to have itself dismissed as a defendant in Fortin’s civil suit. It cited a Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling that said the supervision of priests is a religious matter and cannot be scrutinized by the courts without violating the constitutional separation of church and state.

The Fortin case is still pending, with the judge awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court in another case that could have implications on the church’s liability in abuse cases.

Bernard said the diocese’s decision to move Melville to other churches was in line with its policy at the time. Earlier this year, the diocese adopted a “zero tolerance” policy that bars from ministry any priest who faces a credible allegation of abusing a minor.

“In 1990, we did receive a letter from another person reporting he had been abused,” Bernard said. “Father Melville was removed at that time, sent for evaluation and treatment, and then afterward returned to ministry.”

Cynthia Desrosiers, the Maine coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, compared Gerry’s handling of the case with the actions of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law. Law has faced increasing pressure to resign for his handling of abuse cases.

“It takes the victims … to take action to stop this insanity,” Desrosiers said. “The church does not do it on its own unless the cover-up is exposed.”