Rhode Island AG’s Report Finds Hundreds of Children Abused by Catholic Priest

The report covers a lot of ground. It details the scope of the abuse, including how many credibly accused priests were employed by the Diocese of Providence and how many children were likely abused; though the numbers could be greater. It also details the failings of the Diocese to internally and externally deal with and report the offending priests to the public and law enforcement. The report goes on to suggest reforms within the Diocese to help increase public safety and provide accountability to the abused people and their families.

The investigation was conducted from 2019 to 2026. It had four main goals:

1. Provide an account of the abuse
2. Describe the Diocese of Providence’s response to the abuse
3. Identify abusers who could be prosecuted and charge them
4. Propose measures to prevent recurrence

Investigators reviewed over 250,000 pages of Diocesan records to help recreate what happened. They also contacted survivors and conducted confidential interviews.

Findings: Scope of abuse

The report mentions that the scope of abuse may be much larger than initially uncovered. This could be due to underreporting or hidden reports by the Diocese. The report acknowledges that the Diocese voluntarily produced all of the data it was able to use, and that the Diocese withheld other documents by asserting privilege.

Here are some findings from the report, by the numbers:

• 300: The number of people who reported being abused as a child by Diocese of Providence clergy
• 75: The number of credibly accused clergy the Diocese of Providence employed from 1950 to 2022
• 36: The number of Rhode Island municipalities served by the accused clergy
• 26: The average number of years it took for abuse survivors to report their abuse

Findings: Who was abused

The report found male children were more likely to be abused than females. It identified a ratio of 5:1 for male to female abuse complainants. The report also characterized some other common traits of children who were targeted for abuse.

These characteristics included:

• Proximity to the clergy: Many survivors were altar servers or involved in other Diocese youth activities
• Family circumstances: The report found that survivors were more likely to come from families that were particularly devout or had difficult circumstances

Findings: How the Diocese of Providence failed survivors

The report holds that the Diocese of Providence failed its community by hiding the abuse its clergy members perpetrated against children. According to the report, Diocese officials protected accused priests by promising them confidentiality and transferring them out of the community of the accuser.

This practice of moving the offending priests to another location provided them to a new pool of victims to abuse, rather than addressing the problem at the source. “So much hurt and harm could have been avoided,” said AG Neronha, speaking in a press conference. “Nothing explains it, nothing justifies it.”

The Diocese also had a pattern of not reporting child sexual abuse complaints to law enforcement.

The following 75 clergy members were employed by the Diocese of Providence and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s report found credible reports of abuse against all of them.

1.  Father Joseph Abruzzese
2. Monsignor John Allard
3. Brother Roger C. Argencourt
4. Father Daniel Azzarone
5. Brother Robert (aka Peter) Barnes
6. Father Francis Xavier Battel
7. Father Roger Belhumeur
8. Father Mario Bordignon
9. Father Dennis Brodeur
10. Father James Campbell
11. Father Robert Carpentier
12. Brother Vincent Cavanaugh
13. Father Paul Charland
14. Father Eugene Corbesero
15. Father John Crafton
16. Father Joseph D’Angelo
17. Monsignor Anthony DeAngelis
18. Father Normand Demers
19. Father Alfred Desroisiers
20. Father Paul Desroisier
21. Father Louis Diogo
22. Father Charles Dolan
23. Father John Doran
24. Monsignor Louis Dunn
25. Monsignor Michael W. Dziob
26. Brother Raphael Edes
27. Father John Joseph Keough Feeney
28. Father Oscar Ferland
29. Father John Ferry
30. Father Kevin Fisette
31. Father Edmund Fitzgerald
32. Father John H. Flanagan
33. Deacon Laurence Gagnon
34. Father William Gillooly
35. Father Timothy Gorton
36. Father Rene Guertin
37. Father Richard Holden
38. Father James Jackson
39. Father Edward Kelley
40. Father Joseph Gerard Raymond Lacasse
41. Father Michael LaMountain
42. Father Norman Leboeuf
43. Father Paul Henry Leech
44. Father Roland Lepire
45. Father Alfred Lonardo
46. Father Philip Magaldi
47. Father Thomas Dente Kofi Manu
48. Father Robert Marcantonio
49. Father Joseph McCra
50. Father Robert McIntyre
51. Father Barry Meehan
52. Father Richard Meglio
53. Father Adrien Menard
54. Father Edmond Micarelli
55. Father William O’Connell
56. Father John Francis O’Neil
57. Father William O’Neill
58. Father John Petrocelli
59. Father John Powers
60. Father Hugh Rafferty
61. Father William Raiche
62. Father Paul F. Reynolds
63. Father Joseph Rocha
64. Deacon Edward Sadowski
65. Father Alfred Santagata
66. Father Francis Santilli
67. Father Peter Scagnelli
68. Father James Silva
69. Father John Gerard Brendan Smyth
70. Father William Tanguay
71. Father Peter L. Tedeschi
72. Father John Tormey
73. Father Paul Tousignant
74. Father Biagio Samuel Turillo
75. Father Armand Ventre

The report discusses how, "historical abuse is often not chargeable due to narrower criminal laws and shorter statutes of limitations in effect at the time." Even so, four new criminal cases were brought against clergy abusers.

This is less of a problem with civil cases. Motley Rice is a civil law firm. Rhode Island has a 35-year statute of limitations (SOL) for civil sexual abuse claims. This means survivors of childhood sexual abuse have until they are 53 (age of adulthood being 18, plus the 35-year SOL) to file civil claims against abusers and other perpetrators.

Other perpetrators may include people and entities who aided or abetted in child sexual abuse. This may include the Diocese itself or Diocese staff who knowingly concealed reports or helped shield abusers.

Attorneys at Motley Rice have filed lawsuits against child sexual abuse perpetrators, including against members of the Catholic Church. Our team members are currently involved in examining claims against LDS clergy members and have prior experience pursuing claims against the Boy Scouts of America.

Our attorneys take a trauma-informed approach to all sexual abuse work and understand how difficult the decision to come forward can be. Our goal is to make all abuse survivors feel safe while they pursue a civil claim.

Contact a child sexual abuse lawyer if you'd like to learn more about your legal rights and options.