Fr. Edmund C. Micarelli

Removed from ministry 4/17/1990. A civil lawsuit filed in 1993 and six filed in 1995 alleged that Micarelli sexually abused at least seven boys, one for seven years. The suits claim that Bishop Gelineau and Auxiliary Bishop Angell knew of Micarelli’s behavior prior to 1962. Claims against Micarelli were settled in 9/2002 as part of a $13.5M settlement involving 36 victims. A 2012 article references his involvement in the Boy Scouts and his cover-up of at least one abuser. Included 7/1/2019 on the Diocese’s list of credibly accused. Died 7/12/2019. Included in the 3/4/2026 RI Attorney General’s Report, which shows allegations that Micarelli sexually abused at least twelve children, ages 8-15, when he was a Boy Scout chaplain during the 1960s and 1970s, and four other children in RI and MA. The allegations include rape and Micarelli forcing children to perform sex acts on each other. He also allegedly sexually abused an 18-year-old homeless youth beginning in 1959. In 1983 a man reported to law enforcement that Micarelli had sexually abused his son, who informed the Diocese; no prosecution due to the statute of limitations. Micarelli was kept in ministry until 1988, when another accuser came forward to the Diocese. Micarelli was granted retirement in 1989 and moved to FL. His faculties were removed in 4/1990 “to protect the Diocese,” per Bishop Gelineau.