PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal [Providence RI]
May 27, 2025
By Katherine Gregg
- Rhode Island lawmakers are reconsidering legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits, potentially allowing victims to sue decades after the alleged abuse.
- Attorney General Peter Neronha’s long-awaited report on the extent of clergy sex abuse in Rhode Island is expected to be released early this summer.
- Several former priests have been indicted on child sex abuse charges, but their cases are progressing slowly through the courts.
The long-running campaign to remove legal barriers to lawsuits against priests and others who sexually abused children decades ago has resumed at the Rhode Island State House.
On the night of May 27, a now-familiar group of victims recounted, on camera, what was done to them when they were children.
They included well-known Rhode Island Dr. Herbert “Hub” Brennan, who year after year has recounted being pulled out of a third-grade class by the nuns and led to the nurse’s office, where he was raped by the Rev. Brendan Smyth, a visiting priest, counselor and teacher at Our Lady of Mercy.
“Once he was done, they would return me to the classroom, sworn to silence with the literal fear of God and eternal damnation held over my head.”
“Just remember, please, nowhere in the teachings of Jesus Christ did it say it was okay for men in collars to rape kids,” Brennan, now 67 years old and the president of the Kent County Medical Society, told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The victims and their legislative advocates do not yet have in hand a long-promised report by Attorney General Peter Neronha on the extent of the clergy sex abuse problem in Rhode Island.
And the pending cases against former priests charged with sexual abuse are not moving very fast in state court for reasons that are not in all cases clear.
But this year, the bills to eliminate the statute of limitations are, for the first time, co-sponsored by top legislative leaders: House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and new Senate President Valarie Lawson.
Asked the chances the bill will finally move this year, Shekarchi told The Journal: “I believe the bill needs a little bit more work … [and] we’re looking at some of the recent court cases [in other states] that have given guidance … but I hope that we’ll move [it] out of the House.”
What’s the holdup on the AG’s report?
In 2019, the attorney general’s office reached an agreement with the Diocese of Providence to access “all complaints and allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy dating back to 1950 – whether deemed credible by the Diocese or not.”
A year later, The Journal published a news story headlined: “R.I. Attorney General’s report on clergy sexual abuse could be delivered by the end of 2020, AG says.”
“You know there’s tremendous public interest there, and being able to speak about it would advance the public interest,” Neronha said then.
Neronha’s office has not given a target date for the release of this long-anticipated report on the scope of clergy sex abuse in Rhode Island during the 70 years he reviewed.
When last asked about it, on March 7, his spokesman Tim Rondeau told The Journal: “We’ll be wrapping up the Diocese report this legislative session.”
When asked again on Tuesday, Rondeau said: “The Attorney General is currently reviewing and editing the final report. It then must go to the Diocese, and after that, it will be ready for publication.”
“I don’t have a date for you, but we expect it will be ready early this summer,” he said.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Rep. Carol McEntee when told the release date has been pushed ahead again.
McEntee, who is the lead sponsor of the House version of the bill to eliminate the statute of limitations for this category of crime that touched her own family, said: “I don’t understand the delay.”
What is happening with pending cases against former priests?
In the years since receiving 70 years of sexual abuse complaints from the diocese, Neronha has indicted four former Rhode Island Catholic priests on child sex-abuse and molestation charges. One has since died. The pending cases include:
James Silva
For decades, starting in the 1960s, diocese officials transferred Silva around to a dozen parishes around the state. Victims of clergy abuse and their lawyers have pointed to his career as an example of how diocesan dereliction allowed a known pedophile to move from parish to parish preying on children.
In November 2021, a grand jury indicted former priest James Silva on 11 counts of sexually assaulting a boy younger than 14 between 1989 and 1990 while he was an administrator in the Office of Ministerial Formation within the Diocese of Providence.
Silva’s lawyer, James T. McCormick, said the case involves repressed memory, making it difficult and slow in proceeding through the courts.
“That’s part of the issue – repressed memory,” he said. There has been no court action on the case since September 2023, according to court records.
John Petrocelli
Petrocelli was on the list of credibly accused priests released by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence in 2019. Petrocelli was removed from ministry in 2002.
A grand jury indictment unsealed in 2020 alleged that Petrocelli had sexually abused three boys, all younger than 14.
The charges stem from Petrocelli’s time as an assistant pastor at Holy Family Parish in Woonsocket between Nov. 6, 1981, and Oct. 3, 1990, according to Neronha’s office.
Kevin Fisette
Fisette is charged with a single count of first-degree sexual assault. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Fisette was pastor at the St. Leo the Great Church in Pawtucket when a “credible allegation” was reported to state police in 2009, according to Journal archives. He was then removed from the ministry. In 2019, he was placed on the list of credibly accused priests.
His lawyer Craig V. Montecalvo said earlier this year that the case remains in a “ready trial posture.” He represents Fisette with J. Richard Ratcliffe.
Edward Kelley
In May 2021, a grand jury indicted former priest Edward Kelley in a 1983 rape in North Smithfield. He was subsequently found incompetent to stand trial, according to a news release.
Court records indicate Kelley died in 2023.
What would the bill do?
On May 27, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill sponsored by Sen. Alana DiMario to completely remove the statute of limitations on civil suits for damages resulting from sexual abuse of children and youth under the age of 18, even in cases that go back decades.
The victims and their advocates had moderate success in 2019 when legislators extended the statute of limitations on lawsuits against the perpetrators of child sexual abuse for up to 35 years after the victim’s 18th birthday (or age 53).
That legislation did not, however, retroactively apply to the so-called “non-perpetrators” who, the victims believe, knew or should have known what was happening.
If passed as written, DiMario’s bill would not only remove the time limits on suits against the alleged abusers but also against those who “contributed” to their child sexual abuse by their negligence in supervision and “failure to report and/or concealment.”
The Rev. Bernard Healey, director of the Rhode Island Catholic Conference, led the opposition, but in writing only.
“We accept our responsibility for the abuse that occurred within our ranks and will support survivors as long as necessary,” he told the House in April.
He said the diocese has already “paid over $20 million dollars in legal settlements to victims of clergy sex abuse [and] provided over $2.5 million dollars … for victims’ counseling and continues to provide such assistance.”
But he called the legislation to remove any statute of limitations on alleged crimes that took place decades ago a step too far.
“It is nearly impossible for an institution that did not commit the abuse to defend against a lawsuit from thirty, forty, fifty, or sixty years past because, over time, witnesses’ memories become unreliable, evidence is lost or never found, and in many instances, perpetrators or witnesses may be deceased,” he said.
Over the past five years, he noted, courts in four of the two dozen or so states with similar “revival” laws struck them down.
He also cited news stories on the financial repercussions of similar moves in other states, including Maryland, where it has been estimated that the state is facing a potential liability of between $3 billion and $4 billion for alleged sexual abuse in youth detention centers. He said Rhode Island, and its cities and towns, and school districts would not be immune.
“The most obvious practical result of bills such as this is to generate lawsuits against the church and millions of dollars in legal fees for plaintiffs’ attorneys,” he said.
“The proposed retroactive change in the law does nothing to enhance the security of young people today.”
The American Tort Reform Association raised similar concerns in its own written testimony:
“When the legislature retroactively revives time-barred claims it means that organizations will not have saved paper records from that era, indicating how they screened or trained employees, received reports, or investigated concerns. These records will have been discarded long ago under standard document retention policies.”
With reports from Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney