ALFRED — Former Biddeford police supervisor Norman Gaudette has filed a civil complaint against a former co-worker, Terry Davis, alleging Davis has lied about him and defamed him in recent statements made to a weekly newspaper and through a third party in connection with a sexual misconduct investigation 24 years ago.

Gaudette, who worked at the Biddeford Police Department from 1978 to 2001, was the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation in the early 1990s. According to a story in the May 15, 1991 Journal Tribune, the state closed the investigation after about seven months. Kennebunk attorney Gene Libby, who represents Gaudette now, as he did then, said in a recent letter to several media outlets that a grand jury at the time found insufficient evidence to charge Gaudette with a crime.

Gaudette and former officer Stephen Dodd have recently been named in a swirl of allegations of child sex abuse said to have taken place more than a decade ago. Neither man has ever been charged with a crime in connection with the allegations.

Recently, Terry Davis, who also worked at the department when Gaudette did, and who now lives in Florida, has alleged misconduct on the part of the Maine Attorney General’s Office in its handling of the early-1990s case.

Gaudette was Davis’ supervisor when the two worked together at the BPD.

Gaudette claims that statements made by Davis have defamed and libeled him.

According to the suit, filed late Monday afternoon at York County Superior Court by Libby’s office on Gaudette’s behalf, “former Detective Davis has made, and caused to be published, several false and defamatory statements regarding the investigation of the initial allegations in 1990-1991, including, among other things, that the investigation and grand jury proceedings was ”˜purposely thrown,’ by the Assistant Attorney General at the time, Eric Wright.”

The suit claims that Davis made statements to reporter Ben Meiklejohn, which were reported in the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier on May 14, regarding the grand jury testimony, where Davis claims, among other allegations, that “it was one big staged play,” and that “eight to 10 names were generated as witnesses that could testify about alleged abuse by Gaudette.” According to the suit, which quotes the story, Davis also claimed that the Assistant Attorney General prosecuting the case admitted he “threw the case under the bus” to the grand jury.

The suit claims that Davis either knew the statements were false, or that he made them with reckless regard to the truth or falsity of the statements. The suit claims Davis knew, or should have known, that the statements he made to Meiklejohn would be published.

Gaudette claims Davis committed libel against Gaudette through the publication of a letter outlining similar allegations of sexual abuse and the prosecutor’s alleged handling of the case as it pertains to the grand jury. Davis, the suit claims, provided a copy of the letter to Matt Lauzon, who read it during a public forum on May 9 in Biddeford hosted by Sen. David Dutremble.

The suit claims the letter describes false and defamatory allegations, including, among others, that none of the alleged victims were called to testify before the grand jury, and that the prosecutor admitted to “throwing” the case.

The suit claims Davis instructed Lauzon to provide a copy of the letter to Gov. Paul LePage, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to read it aloud at the forum.

The suit claims both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. As well, it claims that following the publication of the allegations, Gaudette was discharged from his position as a security officer at a bank. The suit claims Gaudette “has been under a great deal of stress (and) has suffered from depression as a result of the publication of these false statements.”

Gaudette’s name surfaced earlier this year after Lauzon, who grew up in Biddeford, began publicly detailing the sexual abuse he suffered as a boy, allegedly at the hands of Stephen Dodd, who served with the Biddeford Police Department from 1978 to 2003. Lauzon’s claims prompted others to come forward alleging abuse.

Last month, the Maine Attorney General’s Office confirmed it is currently investigating sexual abuse allegations involving a former Biddeford police officer and a young teenage boy, but the details of that investigation have not been released.

Davis did not respond by press time to a message seeking comment. According to WMTW, Davis said he is not surprised by the suit and he “would love to end up in a courtroom with Norman Gaudette.”

In a May 29 letter sent to the Journal Tribune and other media outlets, Libby said the Gaudette family has been “victimized” by recent reporting regarding the past investigation.

“I can stand silent no longer while a man and his family are pilloried by (25)-year-old allegations that were determined legally insufficient to support criminal charges,” he wrote.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected]. Angelo Verzoni contributed to this report,