PROVIDENCE (RI)
WPRI-TV, CBS-12 [Providence RI]
October 22, 2026
By Mike Montecalvo, Amanda Milkovitz, Sarah Bawden
A new lawsuit accuses three Rhode Island priests, including former Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence Louis Gelineau, of sexually abusing an altar boy several times at a Barrington parish.
The victim, who was 10 years old when he first became an altar boy at St. Luke’s Parish, filed a lawsuit against the church and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence last week.RELATED: Lawsuit accuses former bishop, two priests of abusing altar boy
The lawsuit revealed that Father Oscar Ferland sexually abused the victim numerous times between the years of 1982 and 1987. It also noted that Gelineau assaulted the victim twice while visiting the parish, and Father Robert Cabral molested him while on trips to Rocky Point Amusement Park.
Ferland, Gelineau and Cabaral have since passed away.
Globe Rhode Island Reporter Amanda Milkovitz sat down with the victim who explained why he waited decades to come forward about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Gelineau.
“Who’s going to believe a 13-year-old?” he said. “Or, are they going to believe the esteemed ‘Pope of Rhode Island?’”
MORE: New RI law extends revival window for clergy sex abuse lawsuits
The victim also told Milkovitz Ferland often fed him excuses to justify the abuse.
“He would usually say to me he was helping me discover who I was as a person,” he recalled. “It completely destroyed my psyche.”
Milkovitz joined 12 News Thursday to share more of what the victim, who’s now 56 years old, had to say.
Watch the full interview in the video above. See the original article for the video.