Priest facing sex abuse claim commits suicide
DOVER-FOXCROFT - A Roman Catholic priest committed suicide after he was informed that he would be suspended pending an investigation of his alleged sexual abuse of a minor 29 years ago, the Diocese of Portland said Friday. The body of the Rev. James Robichaud, 56, was found Friday morning in the rectory of Our Lady of the Snows in Dover-Foxcroft. He learned of the allegation the day before. Robichaud died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Sgt. Gary West of the Dover-Foxcroft police. He said an employee at the rectory found the body in a second-floor bathroom, and it was believed that the shooting took place Thursday evening. No suicide note was found, West said. The abuse allegation came to the diocese from the Oblates, a religious order of men with whom Robichaud was serving in Massachusetts prior to his return to Maine in 2000. The abuse was alleged to have occurred around the time Robichaud, an Augusta native, was ordained in 1979 and assigned to St. Jean-Baptist...