A pillar of midcoast Maine society -- and what we quietly know about him

Last edited Fri Dec 18, 2015, 07:05 PM - Edit history (2)

OK, I don't even know how to approach this topic without naming names. But since we recently had a "townsperson of the year" go down in a blaze of scandal (Rusty Brace, who stole millions in charity donations) it seems clear to me that where there's smoke, there's fire. We just don't want to talk about what we all suspect was happening.

A conservative UK friend of mine recently read a glowing obituary about another one of our local pillars of society, a man who did indeed contribute generously to our local economy. (Also a huge GOP donor.)

I wrote back, "He's rather notorious hereabouts."

My friend accused me of being a leftwing liberal who can't appreciate the good works of a businessman.

I replied: "this has nothing to do with his business. It has to do with all the teenage boys he gathered around him. Everyone in town wondered about it. You don't know the disturbing stories my sons told me about friends of theirs who went off on cruises on this man's boat and came back looking shaken. These boys were given brand new cars (!), and subsequently never said a word. You don't know about the parents who didn't want their sons alone with him. You don't know about this man's connections to Jerry Sandusky, which only came out during the investigation of Sandusky and Penn State.

My friend said: "but there was nothing about any of this in his obituary!"

Well, of course not. Truly wealthy people skate free.

I'm sure that others in midcoast Maine know who I'm talking about. But none of this will ever see the light of day. It's just bothering me, because this man, most likely a pedophile, has been put on a pedestal.