| Assignment Record – Rev. Raymond P. Melville Summary of Case: Ordained a priest of the Portland, ME diocese in 1985, Melville has been accused of the sexual abuse of at least three boys. One accuser told Portland bishop Gerry in a 1990 letter that Melville sexually abused him from 1980-1985, beginning when he was 14 years old and Melville was a seminarian, in Maryland. Melville was sent briefly to treatment, then returned to active ministry. He was accused in a 2001 lawsuit of sexually abusing an Augusta ME boy 1985-1992, beginning when the boy was 13 years old. In a 2007 lawsuit an Augusta man accused Melville of sexually abusing him over a three year period, beginning when he was 12 years old in 1986. Melville left the priesthood in 1997 and is last known to be living in Oklahoma. Ordained: 1985 |
|
| Start | Stop | Parish/Assignment | Town/Accusations | State | Position | Notes |
1979 Baltimore archbishop was William Donald Borders (1974-1989). |
1985 | St. Mary's Seminary and University | Baltimore | MD | seminarian | This assignment is per news reports. |
| early 1980s | Our Lady of Good Counsel | Locus Point • In a 1990 letter, a man told Bishop Gerry of Portland, ME that Melville sexually abused him from 1980 -1985, while Melville was a seminarian working at Our Lady of Good Counsel, and the man was a 14-year-old high school student. |
MD | seminarian | This assignment is per news reports.
|
|
| 1982 | 1983 | University of Maryland Hospital | Baltimore | MD | seminarian | This assignment is per news reports. |
| summers, 1983 and 1984 | St. Joseph's | Gardiner • The boy Melville is accused of having sexually abused in Maryland beginning in 1980 is said to have lived with the priest at St. Joseph's during the summers of 1983 and 1984. |
ME | seminarian | This assignment is per news reports. | |
1985 Portland bishop was Edward Cornelius O'Leary (1974-1988), followed by Joseph John Gerr, O.S.B. (1988-2004). |
1989 | St. Mary's | Augusta • Melville was accused in a 2001 lawsuit of having sexually abused a St. Mary's school student and altar boy from 1985 -1992, beginning when the boy was 13 years-old. • In a 2007 lawsuit, Melville was accused of sexually abusing a male St. Mary's student over a three year period, beginning in 1986 when the boy was 12 years-old. Melville's accuser said the abuse occurred at the school and at a camp in central Maine that Melville owned. He said he was a small, skinny12 year-old who was bullied by other students. Melville 'befriended' him, and the abuse started soon after. |
ME | 2/2, 2/3 | St. Mary's had a school with 258-233 students. |
| 1985 | 1987 | State Hospital | Augusta | ME | This was a station of St. Mary's. | |
| 1985 | 1987 | Veteran's Administration Center | Augusta | ME | ||
| 1989 | 1990 | St. Anasthasius-St. John | Rumford | ME | 2/2 | St. Anasthasius-St. John had a school with 180 students. |
| 1989 | 1990 | St. Mary's Chapel | Roxbury Pond | ME | This was a mission of St. Anasthasius-St. John in Rumford. A Baltimore man stated in his 1990 letter to Bishop Gerry reporting that Melville sexually abused him as a boy from 1980 -1985, "The possible tragedy of another young boy being a victim compels me to write this letter,". Gerry wrote him back that he would "address the matter vigorously and expeditiously." |
|
| Spring 1990 | Golden Valley | MN | patient | Melville was sent to a treatment facility , then reassigned. | ||
| 1990 | 1992 | St. Joseph's | Lewiston | ME | 2/3, 2/2 | St. Joseph's had a school with 208 students. |
| 1992 | 1997 | University of Maine at Michias | Machias | ME | ||
| 1992 | 1997 | Holy Name of Jesus | Machias | ME | 1/1 | Holy Name of Jesus had a C.C.D. program with 80-70 students. |
| 1992 | 1997 | St. Michaels's | Cherryfield | ME | This was a mission of Holy Name of Jesus in Machias. Melville is not indexed beyond the 1997 Directory. Melville left the priesthood in 1997. Known in 2007 to be living in Oklahoma. |
Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1986-1997) • Ex-Pastor Accused of Sexual Abuse, Acts Involving Machias Man Allegedly Occurred Nearly 10 Years Ago, By Mary Anne Clancy
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. |