Assignment Record– Rev. James P. Robichaud, O.M.I.

Summary of Case: Robichaud was ordained in 1979 for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was working in ME when allegations arose that he had sexually abused a minor girl in or about 1979. Allegations were pending for five months before he was placed on leave June 26, 2008. He committed suicide the same night at the rectory. It is believed he was working at St. Jean-Baptiste Pparish in Lowell, MA when the alleged abuse occurred. He had been in Maine since 2000 and officially became part of Portland Diocese in 2003. Portland refused to pursue an investigation of the allegations after Robichaud's death. In April 2012 Attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced a recent settlement of at least one claim regarding Robichaud.

Ordained: 1979
Died: June 26, 2008

     

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1979

Boston archbishop was Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1970-1983).

1983 St. Jean Baptiste (French)

Lowell

• Accused in 2008 of having sexually abused a girl beginning in 1979. (Lowell Sun
July 11, 2008)

MA

2/5 ,6/6, 4/8

Parish had a school with 216-162 students.

Robichaud was a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculata of Massachusetts (o.m.i.)

1979 1980 St. Joseph the Worker Center Lowell MA   This was a mission of St. Jean Baptiste in Lowell.

1983

Succeeding Medeiros was Bernard Francis Law (1984-2002).

1993 Ste. Jeanne D'Arc Lowell MA 3/5, 2/4, 3/6, 7/7, 6/6 Parish had a school with 428-466 students.
1990 1993 Lowell General Hospital Lowell MA Chaplain  
1993 1994         Robichaud is not indexed in the 1994 Directory.
1994 2000 Notre Dame de Lourdes (French) Lowell MA 1/1, 1/2 Robichaud left the Oblates of Mary Immaculata of Massachusetts in 2000.

2000

Portland bishop was Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B. (1988-2004), followed by Richard Joseph Malone (2004- ).

2007 St. Francis Xavier Brownville Junction/Dover- Foxcroft/Milo ME 1/1

Parish had a religious education program with 21-4 students.

From 2004-2006 the parish worshipped at St. Paul the Apostle.

2000 2007 St. Thomas Dover-Foxcroft ME 1/1 Parish had a religious education program with 67-49 students.
2005 2007 St. Anne's Dexter ME 1/1 Parish had a religious education program with 49-47 students.
2007 2008 St. Agnes Pittsfield ME 1/1 Parish had a school with 49 students, and a religious education program with 19 students.
2007 2008 Our Lady of the Snows Dover-Foxcroft ME 1/1

This parish is merged from St. Thomas, St. Anne's and St. Francis Xavier. It had a religious education program with 110 students.

Robichaud was informed on June 26, 2008 that he was to be suspended due to the allegation that he had sexually abused a girl nearly 30 years previously. (USA Today
June 27, 2008) The diocese had been informed of the allegation in Jan. 2008 by Robichaud's former order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculata. (Bangor Daily News
July 10, 2008)

He died as a result of suicide. Death noted to be June 27, 2008, when a rectory worker found his body, but he is believed to have died the night before. (Kennebec Journal
June 28, 2008)

In April 2012 Attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced that at least one claim regarding Robichaud had been recently settled. (BishopAccountability.org, April 11, 2012)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1980-2009)

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Robichaud's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on November 2, 2015.