PROVIDENCE (RI)
Boston Globe
June 11, 2026
By Edward Fitzpatrick
“The influence of the Providence Diocese is powerful in Rhode Island,” one survivor said. “But they underestimated the survivors’ determination to continue speaking truth to power.”
Dr. Ann Hagan Webb recalled the “intense and terrifying” night in 2018 when she and other survivors came to the State House for the first time to testify about being sexually abused by priests.
“All you heard was the tapping of nervous feet,” she said. “One person panicked and left.”
But survivors of clergy abuse kept come back year after year.
And on Thursday, Webb stood at a podium in the State House as Governor Dan McKee prepared to sign bills into law that will allow victims of sexual abuse to file previously expired claims against institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church.
“The influence of the Providence Diocese is powerful in Rhode Island,” Webb said. “But they underestimated the survivors’ determination to continuing speaking truth to power.”
She said the Catholic Church continued to fight the proposed legislation even after Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha issued a scathing report in March, saying the Diocese of Providence failed for decades to protect hundreds of children from clergy sexual abuse, and handled accusations of misconduct through “inaction, concealment, and revictimization.”
“This has been a long David and Goliath fight for justice and the protection of children,” Webb said. “And we won!”
With that, all she heard was a standing ovation from state officials and clergy abuse survivors gathered in the grand State Room.
The legislation extends the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse in any civil action to 35 years from the date of a victim’s 18th birthday, meaning the age of 53. And it opens a “revival window” allowing previously expired claims against institutions and supervisors responsible for enabling or covering up sexual abuse. That window will open on July 1, 2026, and close on June 30, 2028.
The bill signing came four days after the House voted 68 to 4 for the legislation introduced by Webb’s sister, House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Carol Hagan McEntee, a South Kingstown Democrat.
And it came seven days after the Senate, which had killed such bills in previous years, suddenly reversed course and unanimously approved an amended version of the bill introduced by Senator Mark P. McKenney, a Warwick Democrat.
“This legislation sends a message to victims of child sex abuse that Rhode Island stands with you,” McKee said. “This bill is empowering victims of alleged abuse to stand up and seek justice.”
Many times, it can take years for victims of sexual abuse to process the trauma they have gone through and to speak up, he said. “Time shouldn’t be against them,” he said.
Dr. Herbert J. “Hub” Brennan, who has talked about being molested as a child by a priest at Our Lady of Mercy School and Church in East Greenwich, R.I., said Thursday marked an “historic moment.”
”Rhode Island is a better place because our children are safer,” he said.
The signing of the legislation “affords validation, support and the rule of law to the many — the hundreds — of Rhode Island survivors who have never spoken a word about their past, whose pain from abuse has been compounded by years of silence, fear, shame, and the belief that it was too late to seek justice,” Brennan said.
But he urged those survivors to come forward now.
“To anyone who has been silent and has never told their story, as of today you are not alone,” Brennan said. “You still have a voice and we welcome you onto the avenue of justice that has been opened this day.”
Timothy Conlon, an attorney who has sued the diocese on behalf of victims, hailed the new law.
“Today our legislature, and our Governor, have spoken strongly to two audiences,” Conlon said. “First, to those who were victimized as children: We now know why you were silent, and we know you felt shame. The shame was ours. We had a system of justice that turned a deaf ear when you were finally able to find your voice to cry out.”
He said the action also sends a message to the courts: “We will not let justice delayed be justice denied to our children.
“Organizations that put their interests in protecting themselves and avoiding scandal ahead of the interests of children entrusted to their care cannot escape accountability,” Conlon said. “The courthouse doors are to be open.”
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has not commented on the legislation since its passage. But the Rev. Bernard A. Healey, chairman of the Rhode Island Catholic Conference, wrote to legislators strongly opposing the bill.
“The sober reality is that Senate Bill No. 2616 does nothing to protect children and the vulnerable from exploitation and abuse despite what the sponsors of this unconstitutional legislation claim,” Healey wrote. “In other states where similar legislation has been passed has only resulted in bankruptcy for church and other nonprofit organizations, huge financial payouts by state and local governments, rising insurance costs, and of course large profits for law firms.”
Healey noted that New Hampshire, Maine, Colorado, Kentucky, and Utah have struck down similar laws over the past five years.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.