Father Antonin Caron
Diocese of Portland
Ordained: 1969
Laicized: 2016
Assigned as follows:
- Notre Dame (Waterville, ME)
- St Margaret (Old Orchard Beach, ME)
- St. Mary (Lewiston, ME)
- St. Mary (Presque Isle, ME)
- St. Michael (South Berwick, ME)
- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Portland, ME)
- St. Ignatius (Sanford, ME)
- Our Lady of Ransom (Mechanic Falls, ME)
- St. Gregory (Gray, ME)
- St. Mary (Eagle Lake, ME)
- St. James (Baileyville, ME)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Fr. Antonin Caron:
Fr. Antonin Caron was ordained a priest in 1969, who served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Portland for four decades. According to media reports, in 1994 he was acquitted of gross sexual abuse after he was accused of assaulting a 13-year-old girl with a pencil and his hands in the sacristy of St. James in Baileyville. The alleged incident took place in May 1992. Caron’s defense was that he would not have assaulted the girl because he was gay. He retired “on disability” before the charges were filed.
In 2000, Bishop Joseph Gerry suspended Fr. Caron for his involvement with a pornographic website for gay priests. His privileges were temporarily revoked but later reinstated.
In 2012, the Diocese of Portland received a complaint of sexual abuse against Fr. Caron that occurred between 1982 and 1986. The alleged abuse took place when Caron was assigned to Our Lady of Ransom in Mechanic Falls and St. Gregory Parish in Gray. The details of the allegation, including information about the age/gender of his alleged victim/victims and the nature of the alleged sexual abuse are unknown. The Diocese deemed the claims to be “substantiated.”
The Diocese of Portland received another allegation of sexual abuse against Fr. Caron in 2014. The victim alleged that Caron repeatedly sexually abused him over a three-year period when he was teenager. Fr. Caron befriended the teen after his mother died and took him on several trips. The dates and nature of the alleged abuse were not disclosed.
Fr. Antonin Caron was laicized in 2016. His current whereabouts are unknown.
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