RHODE ISLAND
TheMediaReport
WJAR, an NBC television affiliate in Providence, recently trumpeted a trove of documents it obtained from Rhode Island’s state police. They contain letters alleging old sex abuse claims against priests which the Diocese of Providence sent to the police over the past several years.
And while WJAR reporter Katie Davis proudly proclaimed the papers as “detailing sexual abuse by Rhode Island Roman Catholic priests,” what is most noteworthy about the documents is the large number of bogus accusations and outright attempts of fraud against the Church, none of which was mentioned by Davis.
Media credence and mental illness
The documents contain a number of claims which are clearly untrue and even preposterous:
an “obviously troubled individual” made “numerous calls” to the diocese claiming that a priest who had never been accused of anything was “a pedophile and had killed a young boy and buried him on the church property” (doc);
a man left a phone message and claimed he had a list of “73 active priests” who may have molested children, but the man never responded to any return phone calls by the diocese seeking additional information (doc);
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