DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine – Maine’s Roman Catholic diocese says a 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 body of the Reverend James Robichaud was found in the rectory of Our Lady of the Snows in Dover-Foxcroft on Friday, a day after he learned of the allegation.
The Diocese of Portland says the cause of death was not known but police confirm it was a suicide.
The 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.