Father Ronald Michaud
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Ordained: 1973
Removed: 1989
Assignment History
- 1972-1973: Shrine of the Little Flower (Baltimore, MD)
- 1973-1976: St. Ann (Hagerstown, MD)
- 1970s: St. Maria Goretti High School (Hagerstown, MD)
- 1976: St. Mary’s Church (Cumberland, MD)
- 1977-1978: St. Rose of Lima (Gaithersburg, MD)
- 1979-1989: St. Ignatius (Sanford, ME), St. Andre (Biddeford, ME), St. Hyacinth (Westbrook, ME), St. Joseph (Sinclair, ME), Holy Family (Daigle, ME)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Fr. Ronald Michaud:
Fr. Ronald Michaud, a native of Maine, was ordained for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1973 and served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Portland. According to media reports, in 1979, a man reported to the Archdiocese of Baltimore that he had been sexually abused by Fr. Michaud in the mid-1970s. Information about the age/gender of his alleged victim and the nature of the alleged sexual abuse was not provided by the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. Michaud was transferred to the Diocese of Portland In 1979.
In 1989, a man contacted the Archdiocese of Baltimore with an allegation of sexual abuse in 1974 against Fr. Ronald Michaud when he worked at St. Maria Goretti High School. The victim described Michaud as manipulative and said that he saw young people as friends. He described three incidents. The first time Michaud was drinking and driving, and the victim was in the passenger’s seat. Michaud masturbated and asked if it bothered the victim. The second time was in the rectory. The third time the victim woke up with Michaud’s hand in his underwear and confronted him. Michaud later tried to explain the frustrations of being a priest. The Archdiocese notified the Diocese of Portland, where Fr. Michaud was assigned at the time of the report, and Michaud was placed on leave and sent for treatment.
The Diocese of Portland publicly named Fr. Ronald Michaud as a priest accused of sexual abuse of children in 2007. Bishop Malone referred the case to the Vatican and recommended that Fr. Michaud be laicized.
In 2007, a former altar boy from St. Hyacinth’s Church in Westbrook sued Fr. Ronald Michaud and Bishop Malone, alleging sexual abuse in 1985 against Fr. Michaud. The alleged victim was 16 years old when Fr. Michaud began abusing him. The alleged abuse started with kissing and fondling and progressed to Fr. Michaud forcing himself on the victim after serving him alcohol. The suit also alleges that the Diocese of Portland was aware of other allegations of sexual abuse but continued to reassign Michaud to other parishes. The judge awarded the victim $3.46 million in compensatory damages and an additional $1 million in punitive damages in Kennebec County Superior Court, according to that complaint.
In 2018, a man told the Office of the Attorney General that he was sexually abused by Michaud in the 1970s when he was 13 years old. He attended CCD classes at St. Rose of Lima on Saturdays. His parents or another carpool parent drove him and picked him up. After one of the classes, Michaud took him to a private classroom and “rubbed his privates.” He then orally raped the boy. Michaud assured him it was okay and told him not to tell anyone as his parents would be mad, and his friends would make fun of him. The priest also said people would not believe him, and he would be rewarded if he did not tell anyone. Michaud abused him three to four additional times after class. The last time, Michaud forced the boy to perform oral sex on him, which caused him to run out of the room crying. The victim believes that Michaud was caught with another boy some months later and then was moved out of state.
In 2019, a woman reported that Michaud sexually abused her at St. Rose of Lima between 1965 and 1967. She remembered that Michaud visited her at her father’s house, she was alone with him, and he tried to kiss her. She had additional negative memories about him, but they were not clear.
In July 2021, the state removed a 34-year statute of limitations for civil claims of childhood sexual abuse. As a result, another victim came forward in a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, claiming he was abused by Michaud in the 1980s when he was a teenager at St. Andre’s Catholic Church in Biddeford. At the time of the abuse, Michaud was subsequently moved to St. Hyacinth Catholic Church in Westbrook.
Records indicate that, in November 1975, Michaud asked Chancellor Francis Murphy to be allowed to join the Missionary Society of Saint James for a five-year period. There is no record of a reply. In January 1976, Michaud was appointed to St. Mary’s Church temporarily. Archbishop Borders requested that Michaud be transferred to the Diocese of Portland, Maine, in 1978. There is no record of a reason for the request, but Bishop Edward O’Leary of Portland accepted Michaud with a three-year period of probation. At the end of his letter to Borders in which he accepted Michaud, O’Leary said, “with sincere appreciation for your openness in this matter.” In 1982, Michaud was incardinated into the Diocese of Portland.
Michaud was listed as credibly accused by the Archdiocese in 2002. The Diocese of Portland publicly announced that Michaud was credibly accused and that his name was submitted to the Vatican for laicization in 2007. In April 2023, Maryland’s Attorney General released a report alleging 156 Catholic clergy members sexually abused at least 600 children over six decades. The report lists the names of the abusers, including clergy members, seminarians, deacons, teachers, and other archdiocese employees. Ronald Michaud is listed on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors list.
Ronald Michaud was last seen living in Bradenton, Florida.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Maryland, contact our office today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse nationwide. We can help. Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.