Maine Court to Hear Appeal in Suit Against Priest

Maine’s highest court will hear arguments on whether a woman’s lawsuit should go forward against a former Catholic priest she says abused her in the early 1970s.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court will hear oral arguments Sept. 13 in Christine Angell’s lawsuit against Renald Hallee. The 49-year-old Portland woman claims Hallee sexually abused her while he was assigned to St. John Catholic Church in Bangor.

Hallee and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland deny the allegations.

The Bangor Daily News says a superior court justice last September dismissed Angell’s lawsuit against Hallee and the diocese because the statute of limitations had expired.

According to court documents, the claims against the diocese were resolved last year. Hallee is the sole defendant in the appeal to supreme judicial court.