I-Team: Ex-priest won’t be monitored

RHODE ISLAND
NBC 10

By Katie Davis

Updated: Feb 26, 2013

NBC 10’s I-Team has learned that a priest in Woonsocket who admitted to sexual abuse involving a 15-year-old boy in the 1980s won’t be monitored or forced to register as a sex offender.

This week, the former Monsignor John Allard was removed from duty at Precious Blood Church and St. Agatha’s Church, both in Woonsocket.

But critics say that’s not enough. Anne Barrett Doyle of Bishop Accountability, a nonprofit group that tracks publicly accused priests, said she believes Allard is still a risk to children.

“They suspend priests,” Barrett Doyle said. “But who is going to monitor him?”

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence said in a statement that Allard took responsibility for his actions. But NBC 10 learned he won’t be tracked or forced to register as a sex offender because of Rhode Island’s statute of limitations.

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