The main office of Special Olympics Maine, which is being sued over alleged sexual abuse by its founder, is seen on Friday, March 29, 2024 in South Portland, Maine. – The founder of Special Olympics Maine groomed a 9-year-old boy for sexual abuse that spanned two decades in which he encouraged the victim to accompany him on business trips and provided him with employment — and threatened him to keep it quiet, according to a lawsuit.
Boutilier died in 2012 at age 83, and his sister died in 2022. A granddaughter of Boutilier who worked for Special Olympics didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment on his behalf. Frank says in the lawsuit that Boutilier held pizza parties for team members before gradually singling out Frank, then introducing the boy to pornography and alcohol and sexually abusing him at age 11. Frank says in the lawsuit that the abuse continued after Special Olympics Maine was formally incorporated in 1973, with Frank routinely accompanying Boutilier on business trips.
"During that era, organizations with access to and control of children, especially those with vulnerabilities, were well aware of the risk of perpetrators of sexual abuse. We believe that The Special Olympics failed to warn, failed to adequately train, and failed to prevent against the known risks of child sexual abuse,” Bigos said.
While teaching in Gorham, Boutilier took a group of special education students to compete in the inaugural Special Olympics founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver. The experience at Soldiers Field in Chicago inspired Boutilier to start the first Special Olympics Maine. After that, he held the nation's first winter Special Olympics in Maine.
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