Rhode Island Catholic Church Covered Up Sexual Abuse of Children For Decades: Report

State Attorney General is calling for reforms to deadlines in Rhode Island for filing civil and criminal child sexual abuse claims.

According to a new investigative report issued by the Rhode Island Attorney General, Catholic priests have sexually abused hundreds of children in Rhode Island over the last 75 years, with findings suggesting that the church prioritized silencing victims and protecting abusers over the safety and wellbeing of young kids.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha issued a press release last week, detailing the findings of a seven year investigation by his office into allegations of child sexual abuse within the Diocese of Providence.

Similar to reports issued in other states in recent years, the findings detail decades of abuse allegations and identify 75 Rhode Island priests whom investigators determined were the subject of credible accusations.

Neronha said the investigation found that, rather than reporting allegations of horrific child sexual abuse to law enforcement, the diocese repeatedly reassigned priests accused of misconduct. According to the report, at least 30 priests facing accusations were transferred to new positions, with some moved as many as five times.

The investigation was launched in 2019, in partnership with the Rhode Island State Police, after a Memorandum of Understanding between the Attorney General’s office and former Bishop Thomas J. Tobin gave investigators access to internal diocesan records dating back to 1950.

Investigators reviewed more than 250,000 pages of records, including personnel files for accused priests, internal investigations into abuse complaints, documentation related to the “treatment” of abusive clergy and diocesan policies.

The report indicates that Rhode Island priests sexually abused more than 300 children over the past 75 years. Investigators were able to contact about 150 of the victims. Neronha said the findings reveal “deep institutional and personal failures” within the Diocese of Providence, adding that investigators believe the church’s handling of the allegations allowed additional children to be abused when the priests were not reported to law enforcement.

“Child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Providence occurred on an abhorrent, staggering scale. And as our report describes, for decades the Diocese of Providence engaged in a well-worn pattern of protecting the reputation of the Church and its priests over the welfare of children.”

– Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha

Four priests have already been arrested as a result of the investigation and indicted on charges of child molestation or sexual assault. They include Fathers John Petrocelli, Edward Kelley, James Silva and Kevin Fisette, who are all awaiting trial.

A fifth priest, James Jackson of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in June 2023 and was sentenced to six years in prison followed by five years of probation.

The Rhode Island investigation was prompted by a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report that uncovered widespread child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and detailed how church leaders concealed allegations against clergy. The findings sparked similar investigations in other states and led to new laws expanding the statute of limitations for abuse victims.

Report Calls for Reforms to Rhode Island Laws

Neronha also called on the state to adopt stronger laws to address the problem. He recommended that lawmakers amend Rhode Island’s civil and criminal statutes of limitations and require clergy, religious leaders and other religious employees to report known or suspected child sexual abuse or neglect. He also urged the legislature to authorize grand juries to issue public reports, even when no indictment is returned.

The recommended reforms are similar to those made by other states in recent years, such as New York, California, New Jersey and more, which expanded their statute of limitations for child sex abuse civil lawsuits, allowing “windows” of time for adult victims to file claims regardless of how long ago the incidents occurred.

Other states have gone even further. Maryland’s Child Victims Act eliminates the statute of limitations on such cases completely. This has resulted in an influx of Maryland child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Catholic Church and numerous other entities over the past year. The state successfully defended the law’s constitutionality before the Maryland Supreme Court.

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