‘they Are Mistaken’: AG Backs Sex-abuse Law Challenged by Diocese of Providence

By Brian Amaral
Providence Journal
June 5, 2020

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200605/lsquothey-are-mistakenrsquo-ag-backs-sex-abuse-law-challenged-by-diocese-of-providence

Three alleged priest abuse victims and the state attorney general this week defended the legality of the new deadline to sue over child molestation after the Diocese of Providence argued a key feature was unconstitutional.

The arguments come in response to the Diocese of Providence’s attempt to have the three alleged victims’ lawsuits dismissed from state court.

A 2019 law extended the deadline to sue over childhood sexual abuse from seven years to 35 years after a victim’s 18th birthday. It also retroactively extended that deadline for victims, so they could sue their perpetrator within that time even if their claims had already expired under the old law. The Diocese of Providence argues that that is unconstitutional, pointing to a 1996 state Supreme Court decision.

“They are mistaken,” the attorney general’s office said in a filing Thursday in state Superior Court.

Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office filed an amicus brief in the case after it became clear that the legality of the new law would be a key feature in the legal battle between the three men -- Philip Edwardo, Robert Houllahan and Peter Cummings -- and the leadership of the Diocese of Providence. Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel is hearing the case.