A sweeping investigation released by Rhode Island’s attorney general has revealed decades of sexual abuse within the state’s Catholic Church, identifying at least 75 clergy members accused of abusing more than 300 children from 1950 to 2011.
After a multi-year investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, Justice Minister Peter Neronha The findings were released Wednesday.
Neronha outlines a long-standing pattern of church officials prioritizing the institution’s reputation over the protection of children.
According to Neronha, Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States but has the largest Catholic population per capita (nearly 40 percent), so fully understanding the extent of the state’s clergy abuse problem remains difficult. He agreed with victims that although the neighboring Diocese of Boston identified the problem in 2002, it had not done enough to address it.
The findings compare to other high-profile transparency efforts that have recently publicly released millions of Epstein documents.
Read more: For survivors, Rhode Island clergy abuse report brings vindication, new demands
Victims still waiting for justice
Like the victims in the Epstein files, the victims of the Rhode Island pastor are still waiting for complete justice.
“If you are the Diocese of Providence and you are listening, you need to acknowledge and address this scandal. We cannot be slow to solutions and we cannot be slow to justice.”
Neronha said the investigation uncovered decades of systemic failures in handling abuse allegations. The report’s findings reveal that in many cases, accused priests were transferred to other assignments or sent for treatment rather than reported to law enforcement.
Additionally, church documents show that accusations against accused priests were neither thoroughly investigated nor referred to law enforcement, a pattern noted in the bostonPhiladelphia and other places.
The investigation revealed that only about 20 clergy were criminally charged and only 14 were ultimately convicted, leaving many cases unresolved decades later due to statutes of limitations or lack of evidence.
Tricia Youngs, ‘Catholic’ childhood sex abuse survivor from Rhode Island wrote On
For example, in 1992, a priest, Robert Carpentier, resigned after a victim came forward to report that he had been sexually harassed when he was 13 years old in the 1970s. After admitting to the abuse, Carpentier was placed in a treatment facility and later on leave at Boston College. The diocese supported him after his retirement in 2006 and his death in 2012.
According to research, most accused priests escape punishment by dioceses and law enforcement.
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Church disagrees with Nileha
In response, the diocese acknowledged the prevalence of child sexual abuse, particularly by clergy. Still, it said the study reflected the church’s commitment to disclosing internal documents as part of a 2019 deal with the government.
The church further said, “The report presents these 75 years of history in a variety of ways that may lead readers to conclude that these issues are ongoing problems in the diocese or are new revelations. But this is not the case.”
Neronha launched the investigation in 2019, a year after a landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report revealed that more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children since the 1940s.
However, rhode island The law prohibits the release of grand jury reports, something Neronha has long sought to change. Instead, he struck a deal with the diocese to obtain its trove of documents on clergy sexual abuse.
On Wednesday, Neronha condemned the diocese for treating the study as “ancient history.” He urged church leaders that more needs to be done to address ongoing abuse.
He also stressed that the diocese needs to stop the practice of requiring victims to take polygraph tests and stop refusing to investigate third-party allegations against priests.
However, in a video statement, Bishop Bruce Lewandowski said, “There are no clergy members in active ministry who have been credibly accused. Today’s Catholic clergy in Rhode Island are good and holy men who devoutly serve Christ and his people out of true pastoral care.”
