Maine’s Catholic diocese reaches settlements with dozens who sued for abuse
Robert Dupuis, who sued the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, in front of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in November 2023. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)
Maine Catholic’s diocese has settled more than 100 claims brought by people who said they were sexually abused as children by clergy.
Roughly half of the claims were covered by a seven-figure financial amount, according to one lawyer for the plaintiffs.
“This process has brought life changing validations after decades of institutional silence and concealment,” attorney Michael Bigos said Thursday.
The agreements came after Maine’s highest court struck down a state law that allowed people to sue for claims of child sexual abuse, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. Maine had previously removed its statute of limitations for these cases in 2001, but people who had been abused before 1987 still couldn’t pursue claims.
The law allowing for any older claims took effect in 2021. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued its ruling in early 2025, after the church asked it to weigh in on the constitutionality of that law. The diocese argued that the church and other entities had a “vested right” in being protected from the older claims.
Robert Dupuis was the first of dozens of people to sue the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland in 2022 under that law. Dupuis was abused by a priest in 1961 when he was 12 years old, according to court records, while working part-time for St. Joseph Church in Old Town in Penobscot County.
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Dupuis is one of the plaintiffs who resolved his claims with the church.
“I hope that whatever happens, and whatever monetary value comes of this for other people — it’s more important for everyone to know that there’s help out there,” Dupuis said Thursday. “And not to feel shame from what happened to you.”
The settlement also covers many individuals whose claims were more recent and not barred by any statute of limitations.
The plaintiffs were represented by multiple lawyers from four firms, including Bigos, who was at Berman & Simmons before starting his own firm last year.
Lawyers from Berman & Simmons are expected to address the settlement later Thursday.
A spokesperson for the diocese on Thursday declined to answer questions about the settlements. Bishop James Ruggieri said in a statement on the diocese’s website last month that the church paid the settlements through legal funds, and that none of the donations raised during the Catholic Appeal, a church fundraising campaign, were used.
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In a statement posted online last month, Ruggieri stated the resolution was “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.”
Dupuis said Thursday he decided to sue the diocese in 2022, to encourage others to come forward and seek help.
“I knew that some people would come forward, a few people, but never a hundred people,” Dupuis said. “I hope they’re in the same place I’m in right now, all of them. To be living my life with less insecurities than I did for close to 40 years after the abuse.”
Dupuis has shared his story publicly for years. He successfully petitioned the city of Augusta in 2007 to remove the Rev. John Curran’s name from a local bridge, after he and others came forward and reported that Curran had abused them as children.
After an investigation by the Office of the Maine Attorney General, Curran’s name was one of several included on a list in 2005 of “credibly accused” clergy who had died.
This story will be updated.
IF YOU or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, you can call Maine’s Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 1-800-871-7741 to talk to someone who can help. You can learn more online here.
OR you can call National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat at online.rainn.org
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Tagged: lawsuit, maine supreme judicial court, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland
Emily Allen covers courts for the Portland Press Herald. It's her favorite beat so far — before moving to Maine in 2022, she reported on a wide range of topics for public radio in West Virginia and was. More by Emily Allen
