Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha has released a damning report revealing that Catholic priests in the state sexually abused hundreds of children over several decades, often escaping accountability due to a system that prioritized secrecy and minimized scandal.

Scope of Abuse and Systemic Failures

The report, the result of a multiyear investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Providence, found that 75 clergy members molested more than 300 children since 1950, though officials believe the actual number is much higher. The findings highlight a pattern of systemic failures within the diocese, including the use of secret archives to conceal abuse cases and the transfer of accused priests without thorough investigations.

The report describes the diocese’s handling of abuse as “damning,” noting that the organization often moved accused priests to new assignments without contacting law enforcement or properly investigating complaints. In the 1950s, the diocese even operated a “spiritual retreat-style facility” for accused priests, a practice that later evolved into sending them to formal treatment centers.

By the 1990s, the diocese began placing accused priests on sabbatical leave instead of taking formal action. For instance, priest Robert Carpentier, accused of abuse in 1992, was sent to a treatment center in Connecticut and eventually placed on sabbatical at Boston College. He remained on leave until his retirement in 2006 and received continued support from the diocese until his death in 2012.

Victim Accounts and Systemic Inaction

The report includes harrowing accounts from survivors. One victim described being groomed by Monsignor John Allard, who served at Immaculate Conception Church in Cranston in 1981. Allard allegedly began physical abuse by ninth grade, using phrases like “You need a hug” to manipulate the young victim. Despite the review board deeming the abuse credible, then-Bishop Thomas Tobin intervened to have Allard retire without being removed from the priesthood, a request the Vatican approved.

Even those responsible for reviewing abuse cases were not immune to misconduct. Priest Francis Santilli, who served on the diocese’s review board, was accused of abuse in 2021. Despite additional complaints in 2014 and 2021, Santilli remained in active ministry until 2022.

The report criticizes the diocese for its slow response, stating, “Only the Diocese can explain why this plainly necessary action took so long.”

Legal and Institutional Responses

Neronha’s office has charged four current and former priests for abuse committed between 2020 and 2022, with three still awaiting trial. The fourth priest died after being deemed incompetent to stand trial in 2022. Overall, only 26% of the clergy identified in the report ever faced criminal charges, and just 14 were convicted. A dozen were laicized or dismissed from the clerical state.

The attorney general launched the investigation in 2019, following the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report that exposed over 1,000 child victims of abuse by an estimated 300 priests since the 1940s. Unlike Pennsylvania, Rhode Island law does not allow grand jury reports to be made public, a barrier Neronha has long fought to change.

To obtain access to the diocese’s records, Neronha entered into an agreement with the diocese, which provided hundreds of thousands of documents spanning 70 years. These included internal investigations, civil settlement records, treatment costs, and more. However, Neronha noted that the arrangement had “important limits” and faced delays, including the diocese’s refusal to allow interviews with personnel responsible for handling abuse allegations.

Additionally, the report acknowledges that an unknown number of victims may have died before coming forward, and some church records may have been lost or destroyed. Many abuse survivors take decades to report their experiences, compounding the difficulty of uncovering the full extent of the abuse.

Neronha emphasized that the report aims to spark a “full reckoning” of the abuse, offering transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms to prevent future incidents. “Not until now has there been a thorough review of this painful chapter in our state’s history,” Neronha wrote in the report, adding that he hopes the findings will help reduce the likelihood of future abuse, both within the diocese and the broader community.