Fr. Joseph James Rocha
Worked in the dioceses/archdioceses of Washington DC, Boston, Nashville, Providence. Left the priesthood in 1986, laicized in 1988. In 9/2001 Rocha pleaded guilty to the sexual assault in 1999 of a 21-year-old mentally disabled man, who was a resident at an assistant living facility where Rocha was working; received 10 years’ probation and counseling. Ordered to register as a sex offender. Died in 2009. Included on Attorney Garabedian’s list 3/28/2016 of accused clerics named in civil claims resulting in settlements or arbitration awards. Settlement with his Order 11/2015 for the alleged abuse of a minor 1968-1969 at St. Stephen’s Priory in Dover MA. Included on the Dominican Province of St. Joseph’s list in late 2018. On the Providence diocese’s list 7/1/2019. Included in the 3/5/2026 RI Attorney General’s Report. In 2012 the a man reported to the Diocese that Rocha sexually him at age 8- or 9-year-old, on three occasions in 1982. The abuse allegedly took place on a camping trip in NH, on a trip to a summer home on Cape Cod, and Rocha’s office at Bishop Henricken High School in Warwick. In 2019 the Diocese received a report that Rocha sexually assaulted a minor in 1981 or 1982, while assigned to Bishop Hendricken.
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