Picher v. The Roman Catholic Bishop Of Portland Et Al.

974 A.2d 286 (2009)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P sued his former priest, Raymond Melville, and D, based on the sexual abuse of P by Melville when P was a minor in the late 1980s. P sued Melville for negligence, sexual assault and battery, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, clergy malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty. Melville defaulted. The claims against D were for negligent supervision, breach of fiduciary duty, canonical agency, and fraudulent concealment of facts. P claims that D was on notice that Melville had abused a child before he was ordained as a priest and before he was assigned to the parish. P claims that D failed to report Melville to law enforcement officials and concealed Melville's propensities from everyone. D denied these allegations. D is a corporation sole. D moved for summary judgment based on the defense of charitable immunity. The court granted D's motion. The court held that the doctrine of charitable immunity covers both intentional and negligent torts. A final judgment was entered against Melville in the amount of $4,227,875. P appealed the summary judgment.