Thirteen lawsuits have been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland so far this year, all alleging the church failed to stop priests and other employees from sexually abusing children. The complaints lay out a timeline of abuse, much of which the church has acknowledged, that spans decades.
1957: Mary Geraldine Walsh, a nun working at St. John Parochial School in Bangor, is accused of sexually abusing a student.
1958: Lawrence Sabatino is accused of abuse at St. Patrick Parish in Lewiston. The diocese later moves him to St. Peter Parish in Portland.
1961: John Curran is accused of abuse at St. Joseph Parish in Old Town.
1962: Curran arrives at St. Augustine Parish in Augusta, where he is accused of abusing at least three boys in the early 1960s.
1964: Sabatino is accused of abuse at St. Peter Parish.
1966: Edward F. Ward is accused of abuse at St. Mary Church in Bangor.
1970: Raymond Lauzon is accused of abuse at St. Joseph Parish in Portland.
1972: Curran retires, and dies four years later.
1973: Walsh dies at 86 years old.
1978: Michael Plourde is accused of abuse at St. Hyacinth Parish in Westbrook.
1979: Rene Daniel is accused of abuse at St. Hyacinth in Westbrook.
1981-1984: Ronald Michaud is accused of abuse at St. Andre’s Parish in Biddeford and is reassigned to St. Hyacinth Parish in Westbrook.
1981: John Harris is accused of abuse at a diocese-run summer camp, Camp Pesquasawasis.
1984: Plourde is temporarily removed from ministry.
1984: Lauzon is indicted, but never convicted, on two counts of gross sexual assault tied to abuse allegations in 1978 and 1982.
1985: John Shorty is accused of abuse at a Portland rectory.
1985: Michaud is accused of abuse at St. Andre’s Parish in Biddeford.
1993: Lauzon moves to Lithuania to work at a monastery.
1994: Shorty and Plourde are permanently removed from ministry.
2003: Harris leaves the diocese following allegations of inappropriate activity at Camp Waganaki.
2004: The Maine Attorney General’s Office investigates more than 60 priests and employees within the diocese who were accused of abuse, but never criminally charged.
2007: Curran’s name is removed from a plaque on a local bridge in Augusta.
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