Fr. John H. Crafton

Named publicly as credibly accused by the Columbans’ U.S. Province on its list in 2/2022, with one allegation of abuse noted, occurring in the 1960s. Per the Official Catholic Directory, Crafton was assigned throughout the 1960s to the Columbans’ Foreign Mission Society headquarters in Omaha, NE. He died in 1989. Included in the 3/4/2026 RI Attorney General’s Report. Crafton was assigned 1974-1976 to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Providence and in 1982 at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Pawtucket, as auxilliary chaplain. In 6/1994 a woman told the Diocese of Providence that Crafton sexually abused her over six or seven years, beginning when she was about age 5 in the 1960s and he was living at the Columban Seminary in Bristol RI. At least two other priests knew of the abuse and did nothing. Crafton’s alleged victim came forward again in 2002, to Bishop Mulvee. She asked the Columbans for lifetime therapy; it was denied. In 2006 the woman again contacted the Diocese, who informed the Order. The Columbans’ Provincial stated that there was no investigation and that they had offered the woman one year of therapy “as an act of charity.” In 2024 the woman told RI State Police that there may have been another victim.