Fr. Raymond P. Melville

Ordained: 1985
Status: Settled

Diocese: Diocese of Portland ME

Left active priesthood in 1997. In a 1990 letter to Portland ME Bishop Gerry, a man accused Melville of abusing him as a teenager 1980-1985, when Melville was a seminarian in Baltimore. Melville admitted the allegations. Sent to treatment in MN, returned to ministry. Diocese knew of his behavior before 1990. Sued in 2000 by a man who claimed abuse for seven years, including rape, beginning when he was age 13 in 1985. Admitted the abuse. Suit settled for $500K. Other complaints in several locations. Case sent to Vatican with request for laicization; pending in 2012. Another suit filed in 2/2007 alleged abuse of a boy at age 12 in the late 1980s. Victim awarded $4.2M in 1/2008. Diocese dismissed from suit; dismissal upheld by ME Supreme Court in 11/2013. Third suit filed 11/2007. Melville was reportedly living in OK in 2007 and by 2013 may have been living in NC.

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