PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal [Providence RI]
July 13, 2026
By Katie Mulvaney
Key Points
- The lawsuits were filed after a new state law created a two-year window for claims previously barred by the statute of limitations.
- Superior Court Judge Richard A. Licht will manage the cases and may select representative “bellwether” cases for trial.
- The lawsuits accuse the church of negligence and conspiring to cover up widespread abuse allegations.
A single judge will oversee the flood of lawsuits being filed alleging childhood abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in Rhode Island.
Superior Court Judge Richard A. Licht will be presiding over the 40-plus lawsuits that have come in since July 1, the first day of the two-year “revival window” the legislature created for people alleging child sex abuse to file civil suits for claims that sometimes date back decades.
State lawmakers passed the measure, signed into law by the governor, opening an avenue for people to seek accountability for claims that had previously been barred by a statute of limitations, following the release of a scathing report by Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office that detailed allegations of rampant abuse and a cover-up.
Since 2025, Licht has been in charge of the mass tort calendar for the Rhode Island judiciary under an administrative order by retired Superior Court Presiding Justice Alice B. Gibney. The court created the dedicated calendar to handle the complex litigation for similar matters “involving the same underlying product, claim, or tort and a common defendant or group of defendants.”
Gibney named Licht to supervise the calendar in October 2025. Among his duties will be selecting, at his discretion, bellwether cases for trial. A bellwether case is a representative “test” case that is used to gauge the outcome at trial in mass litigation, according to the website US Law Explained.
Licht on July 1 established a dedicated docket for the close to three dozen cases that had been filed as of that date, the majority of which were brought by the firm Decof, Mega & Quinn. More lawsuits trickled in the following week and more are expected.
What do the lawsuits allege?
Most of the lawsuits name the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Providence, the churches in which the alleged abuser was assigned, and individuals, some unnamed, as defendants.
The lawsuits seek to hold the church responsible for the conduct of the alleged offenders and accuse them of negligence for the pain and suffering inflicted upon the children on their watch. In addition, they argue the parties conspired to “misrepresent information concerning clergy sexual abuse of children and the dangerous propensities of clergy under their supervision and control” and to mislead the public about the widespread allegations.
What the Diocese of Providence has said
Legislation proposing to lift the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims lingered for years until passing this year following the release of the attorney general’s report and despite the diocese’s stiff opposition.
Seven years in the making, the report chronicled decades of alleged abuse by clergy members against legions of Rhode Island children and the subsequent cover-up by the diocese as it shifted priests from parish to parish.
In response, the diocese stressed the steps it had taken to address the issue and its cooperation and “unprecedented transparency” with state prosecutors. It noted that the report “does not have the force of law but rather offers untested perspectives of the Attorney General,” with the majority of its “focus on historical cases of abuse from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.”
It faulted the timing of the report as intended to influence state lawmakers to pass the legislation.
“It is undeniable that the Diocese of Providence has effectively responded to these issues by instituting wide-ranging reforms. Beginning more than thirty years ago, and improved throughout the following years, the diocese can confidently say that our protections for children have proven to be overwhelmingly effective,” the diocese said in a statement.