MAINE
Portland Press Herald
BY ERIC RUSSELL STAFF WRITER
erussell@pressherald.com | @PPHEricRussell | 207-791-6344
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has settled a lawsuit for $1.2 million with six sexual abuse victims of a former priest.
Additional details are expected to be released at a press conference late Monday morning at the office of Boston lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented dozens of victims of pedophile priests.
The six plaintiffs are all victims of Father James Vallely, a longtime priest in the Bangor area dating back to the 1950s. He is now deceased.
According to a press release from Garabedian’s office, the Portland diocese, which oversees all Catholic parishes in Maine, had knowledge of multiple accusations of abuse against Vallely but did not remove him from the ministry. Instead, Vallely was transferred to other parishes, including St. Dominic’s in Portland and St. Michael’s in South Berwick.
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