MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff

Posted Nov. 12, 2012

BANGOR, Maine — For organizations and people he was associated with, the Rev. Robert Carlson’s suicide one year ago pulled back the curtain of silence surrounding the issue of child sexual abuse by people in power.

While these organizations deny knowing about Carlson’s aberrant behavior, they now say they’ve changed policies and practices after a Maine State Police report revealed abuse going back decades.

Discussing Carlson’s sexual abuse of children was the first step in healing for the East Orrington Congregational Church, where Carlson was a senior pastor for 25 years, and for Penobscot Community Health Care, where he served as president for several years before his death.

Both did internal reviews of Carlson’s role in their organizations, and each has made adjustments to policies that are designed to catch perpetrators and protect society’s most vulnerable…