MAINE
CentralMaine.com
BY AMY CALDER
STAFF WRITER
WATERVILLE — Experts who deal with sexual abuse issues say it is understandable that parishioners of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church are in shock and disbelief that their former priest, the Rev. Larry Jensen, was removed swiftly from the church amid allegations that he sexually abused a teenage boy 15 years ago in Connecticut.
After all, a spiritual leader is someone they look up to, trust, admire, invite to family gatherings and holiday celebrations, and regard as part of their family. But it is for that precise reason that often people can not imagine any abuse could have taken place, experts say.
Cara Courchesne, communications director for Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, cited as an example the case of former Penn State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who sexually abused young boys over a period of at least 15 years.
“I think that with a lot of cases, and we saw it with Jerry Sandusky, that when somebody who is part of a community, who is well-known and well-liked and something like this comes out, it makes us question our own beliefs and what we know to be true and it can be very, very hard,” Courchesne said.
Jensen, 62, was the priest at St. Joseph for 10 years until Sunday, when Bishop Gregory Mansour, of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron, of Brooklyn, New York, read aloud a letter in the church saying Jensen had been removed from his priestly ministry and that the Rev. James Doran would be replacing him.
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