MAINE
Portland Press Herald
By Scott Dolan sdolan@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
PORTLAND — Two brothers who served as altar boys in the 1970s are suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, claiming diocese officials knew the Rev. James Vallely was sexually abusing them and other young children but failed to act to stop it.
The brothers, Jeffrey and Frederick Conroy, each filed suit last week in Cumberland County Superior Court, accusing Vallely, who is now dead, of abusing them from 1976 through 1979 while they were altar boys at St. Michael’s Parish in South Berwick.
Their attorney, Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, said he has represented nine victims who say they were abused by Vallely from approximately 1958 to 1979.
“The children were approximately 8 to 16 years old at the time of the abuse,” Garabedian said. “The sexual abuse consisted of fondling and rape on multiple occasions for years of multiple children.”
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