Augusta, Maine -- A Maine judge has ruled that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland did not conceal prior sex abuse allegations against a priest accused of molesting a young boy in the late 1980s.
The now 38-year-old Augusta man who made the abuse claim said in a lawsuit that the diocese covered up previous sex abuse complaints against the Rev. Raymond Melville. The alleged victim says he was abused as a boy between September 1986 and June 1988.
Judge Donald Marden wrote in a decision released this week that "it is undisputed" that the diocese received no sexual abuse complaints against Melville prior to 1990.
Melville was previously ordered to pay the Augusta man $4.2 million.
The alleged victim's lawyer tells the Kennebec Journal that the decision will be appealed.
