DOE v. MISSIONARY OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE EASTERN PROVINCE

CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedJanuary 7, 2025
Docket1:22-cv-00381
StatusUnknown

This text of DOE v. MISSIONARY OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE EASTERN PROVINCE (DOE v. MISSIONARY OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE EASTERN PROVINCE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DOE v. MISSIONARY OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE EASTERN PROVINCE, (D. Me. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE

JANE DOE, an individual ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 1:22-cv-00381-SDN ) MISSIONARY OBLATES OF MARY ) IMMACULATE EASTERN ) PROVINCE et al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Jane Doe1 alleges priests of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate2 sexually abused her when she visited Maine as a young child in the 1950s (ECF No. 39). In her complaint, Doe maintains that she suffers from severe mental and emotional injuries from the abuse. The Defendants now move for summary judgment in their favor, (ECF No. 74), to which Doe replies in opposition (ECF No. 78). For the reasons that follow, I grant Defendants’ motion.

1 Jane Doe is a pseudonym. See ECF Nos. 6, 10. 2 In her first amended complaint, Doe names three related Oblates entities as defendants: Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Eastern Province, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Inc., and U.S. Province of the Missionary of Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Inc. Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Eastern Province filed the instant motion; the same counsel represents all entities. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Eastern Province and U.S. Province of the Missionary of Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Inc. individually and collectively as the Oblates. I will refer to Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Inc. as “OMI, Inc.” FACTUAL BACKGROUND The following facts derive from the Defendants’ Statement of Material Fact (ECF No. 74-1), Plaintiff’s Response to Defendants’ Statement of Material Fact (ECF No. 77), and Defendants’ Reply to Plaintiff’s Response (ECF No. 80), as well as the parties’ briefs and other evidence that the parties reference in their statements of material facts to

incorporate immaterial relevant information. See D. Me. Local R. 56. A. The Missionary The Oblates is a Roman Catholic religious missionary order that began its work in the United States in 1842.3 The Eastern Province came into being in 1953 after a “realignment of the American provinces was made by the General Administration.” ECF No. 77-3 at 4. The Eastern Province had seminaries in Newburgh and Essex, New York, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. ECF No. 77, ¶ 27a. Oblates priests from the Eastern Province also served in Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington, D.C. ECF No. 77, ¶ 27b. The Eastern and Northern Provinces were separate entities with separate administrative structures and authority. ECF No. 77, ¶ 27e. The Eastern Province did not own any of the retreat homes in Augusta, Bar Harbor,

and Bucksport, Maine, where the Plaintiff’s alleged sexual abuse occurred. ECF No. 77, ¶ 27d. Relevant to the Plaintiff’s claims are Reverends Arthur P. Craig (Rev. Craig) and Francis L. Demers (Rev. Demers), both of whom were involved with the Oblates during

3 See ECF No. 77-3. Beginning in the 1950s, the Missionary Oblates consisted of various divisions that spread across the United States. ECF No. 74 at 2. The Eastern Province included Maine and Massachusetts and spanned across the nation to Michigan. ECF No. 78 at 2. The St. Jean Baptiste Province of Lowell became known as the Northern Province and it was established within the boundaries of the Eastern Province in 1991 Id. Since 1999, each of the various divisions are now combined into one national entity that covers the entire United States—OMI, Inc. Id. the period in which Doe was in the custody of the orphanage, see ECF No. 74-6 at 10; ECF No. 77-11, but neither of which were assigned to the Northern or Eastern Provinces during said time period. Specifically, Doe claims that she now recalls Rev. Craig and Rev. Demers contributed to the alleged instances of sexual abuse that Doe experienced from the Oblates priests. ECF No. 39 at 4–6.

Rev. Craig attended the Eastern Province seminary in Washington, D.C. between 1951–1955, and he was ordained as a member of the Eastern Province in June, 1955. ECF No. 77, ¶¶ 17–18. In 1959, Rev. Craig was assigned to the serve as an assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception Church located in Lowell, Massachusetts. ECF No. 77, ¶ 20. Rev. Demers, who is now deceased, was a priest of the Northern Province—however, Doe did not name the Northern Province as a defendant in the complaint due to its subsumption into OMI, Inc. ECF No. 77, ¶¶ 34–35. The Eastern province maintained personnel files for its members consisting of formation reports, approvals for vows and ordination, assignment history, assignment obediences, correspondence, and incident reports. ECF No. 77, ¶ 28. Rev. Craig did not have any such reports of misconduct of any kind, including sexual abuse, in his personnel

file. ECF No. 77, ¶ 29-30. There also is no evidence suggesting that Rev. Demers had any such report in his personnel file. Members of the Eastern and Northern Provinces were combined into a single entity after the formation and incorporation of the U.S. Province in 1998–1999. ECF No. 77, ¶ 31. B. Jane Doe Doe was placed in the custody of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1955 at the age of four years old. ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 2. She remained in custody of the orphanage for four years. Id. A French Canadian Roman Catholic Institution known as the “Grey Nuns” oversaw the orphanage. ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 3. For the purpose of analyzing Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, the Court assumes that the Grey Nuns interacted with Oblates priests at services, ceremonies, and retreats on multiple occasions, see ECF No. 77-6; however, the Oblates did not own, operate, or staff

St. Joseph’s Orphanage, ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 16. Doe alleges that during her time at the orphanage, she would travel with the Grey Nuns and the Oblates across the region to sing and dance due to Doe’s talents at such activities. ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 10. In furtherance of her allegations, Doe explains that the Grey Nuns and Oblates priests would transport Doe and other orphans, under the guise of scheduled religious performances, to the retreat homes in Augusta, Bucksport, and Bar Harbor, Maine, where the priests would perform sexual acts on the children. ECF No. 39. Doe claims an Oblates priest identified as Father Krzynski and varying Grey Nuns drove Doe and the other orphans to these offsite retreat homes in cars owned by the Oblates. ECF No. 74-3 at 76–77. Doe claims to have experienced this sexual abuse by the priests on at least ten separate occasions. See ECF No. 74-3 at 106.

While Doe always has been aware of the alleged abuse she encountered as a child, Doe actively repressed her memory of the specific acts of abuse throughout her adult life. See ECF No. 74-3 at, 11, 15, 148. However, “a 1994 episode of 60 Minutes triggered the experience to the foreground of her consciousness.” ECF No. 78 at 5; ECF No. 74-3 at 11- 12; ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 7. Following her recollection of the abuse, Doe wrote to Survivors Anonymous and was connected with another individual, Jane Doe DW,4 who mentioned

4 Jane Doe DW is a pseudonym. Supra note 1. also being told about singing and dancing before being sexually abused by Oblates priests. ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 8-9; ECF No. 74-3 at 11–12, 15–16. After speaking with Doe DW, Doe did not seek to gain more information at that time as the “reopened wounds [were] too overwhelming.” ECF No. 78 at 6; ECF No. 74-3 at 14–16. Furthermore, “like many victims of childhood sexual abuse,” Doe disassociated from her memories of abuse due to feelings

of shame and guilt. ECF No. 39, ¶ 30. In 2020, Doe DW contacted Doe to testify on Doe DW’s behalf. ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 11. Doe’s own abuse by the priests then resurfaced. Id. ¶ 12; ECF No. 74-3 at 102–03. In 2022, Doe DW’s attorney presented Doe with numerous photographs of “potential assailants that [Doe] ‘recognized immediately.’” ECF No. 78 at 6; ECF No. 74-1, ¶ 13; ECF No.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Navarro Pomares v. Pfizer Corporation
261 F.3d 90 (First Circuit, 2001)
Montfort-Rodriguez v. Rey-Hernandez
504 F.3d 221 (First Circuit, 2007)
Meuser v. Federal Express Corp.
564 F.3d 507 (First Circuit, 2009)
Ramon M. Suarez v. Pueblo International, Inc.
229 F.3d 49 (First Circuit, 2000)
McLain v. Training and Development Corp.
572 A.2d 494 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1990)
Stanton v. University of Maine System
2001 ME 96 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2001)
Dragomir v. Spring Harbor Hospital
2009 ME 51 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2009)
Fortin v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland
2005 ME 57 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2005)
Mahar v. StoneWood Transport
2003 ME 63 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2003)
Gniadek v. Camp Sunshine at Sebago Lake, Inc.
2011 ME 11 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2011)
Elizabeth Brown v. Delta Tau Delta
2015 ME 75 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2015)
Theriault v. Genesis Healthcare LLC
890 F.3d 342 (First Circuit, 2018)
Theidon v. Harvard University
948 F.3d 477 (First Circuit, 2020)
Baum-Holland v. Hilton El Con Management, LLC
964 F.3d 77 (First Circuit, 2020)
Bonner v. Triple-S Vida, Inc.
68 F.4th 677 (First Circuit, 2023)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
DOE v. MISSIONARY OBLATES OF MARY IMMACULATE EASTERN PROVINCE, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-missionary-oblates-of-mary-immaculate-eastern-province-med-2025.