Ri Non-profit Group Asks Bishop Tobin to Release "Secret Files"

WJAR NBC 10 NEWS
July 5, 2019

https://turnto10.com/news/local/ri-non-profit-group-asks-bishop-tobin-to-release-secret-files

FILE -- Bishop Thomas Tobin (WJAR)

There's more fallout a day after the Diocese of Providence released a list of credibly accused members of the clergy.

Some are saying more needs to be done and are urging the diocese for more transparency.

“We are not satisfied with just a list,” Dr. Robert M. Hoatson, who is the co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, Inc., said. “We want the assignment histories of all of these priests and deacons listed very, very carefully.”

Road to Recovery is a non-profit group that helps victims of sexual abuse. Hoatson, who is a former priest and a sexual abuse survivor himself, is calling on Bishop Thomas J. Tobin to release all files, including the "secret" files, for every clergymen who has been credibly accused of sexually abusing of children, teenagers, or vulnerable adults.

Boston-based attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who was portrayed in the movie “Spotlight,” shared similar sentiments.

“It is time for the Diocese of Providence to practice full transparency and accountability by listing the names of all credibly accused priests and by releasing all documents in its files indicating the extent of the cover up and the complicity of supervising priests,” Garabedian noted in a statement.

The diocese has responded, saying in part, “Monday’s disclosures were the result of a complete and thorough review of seventy years of diocesan files by a veteran law enforcement expert...for over 20 years, every allegation received, regardless of credibility has been reported to law enforcement.”