PORTLAND (ME)
Spectrum News [Portland, ME]
September 3, 2026
By Jules Walkup
About a dozen survivors of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the Diocese of Portland on Wednesday publically called for accountability following the diocese’s legal settlement with a large group of survivors last month.
In 2021, Maine passed a law that allows survivors of sexual abuse to bring civil lawsuits against older cases. Before this, survivors could not bring forward lawsuits if the abuse happened before the late 1980s.
According to attorney Michael Bigos, who represented several survivors, the Portland diocese has resolved more than 100 child sex abuse claims made against it since 2021. He said the survivors have been between the ages of 35 to late 80s and are about equally men and women. In late August, according to Maine Public, the diocese settled with 42 survivors.
The terms of the settlements are undisclosed.
In July, Bishop James T. Ruggieri released a statement saying the diocese will continue to investigate every report of abuse, and that his heart goes out to survivors of abuse.
“Please know of my prayers for all who have been harmed and for all who seek healing. I remain committed to listening, acting with integrity, and doing everything within our power to ensure that our parishes and ministries are safe,” the statement reads.
But attorney Jessica Arbour said she doesn’t believe the Portland diocese is committed to change. She added that her conversations with the Portland diocese did not go the way conversations with other dioceses about sexual abuse typically go, in which clergy offer support and to elevate the voices of survivors.
“Until that paradigm changes, until that attitude changes, survivors are not safe coming forward reporting to the diocese, and children are not safe in Maine’s Catholic parishes,” Arbour said.
Annie Allen, one of Arbour and Bigos’ clients, said she experienced abuse when she was seven years old. According to court documents from 2005, the pastor in question was moved around parishes in Maine following complaints of sexual abuse. He died in 1990.
Allen said she didn’t feel that the statement released by the diocese was enough. She felt it was mainly focused on the financial aspect of the litigation and settlements, which she said was not the priority for any of the survivors she knew.
“The statement that they released very quietly on their website provided no comfort — I think I’m right in saying this — provided no comfort or closure for any of the survivors that I have come to know,” Allen said.
Ruggieri’s statement says the financial settlements are meant to tangibly acknowledge the seriousness of the abuse.
“This is intended to acknowledge, in a tangible way, consistent with our resources and obligations, the seriousness of what has been reported and the lasting impact of abuse. Funds used are from those previously designated for liability claims, not from the Catholic Appeal,” the statement reads.
Allen added that the diocese did nothing in response to her claims of sexual abuse. She only decided to take the path of litigation decades later. She said all she wanted from the diocese was accountability and justice.
“They completely ignored anything that I shared,” Allen said. “Completely ignored it. Never a word. Never a contact. Never anything. Nothing.”