The number of Catholic priests and parochial school teachers accused of sexually molesting children in Rhode Island is longer than previously known.
While a bombshell report from earlier this year included 75 clergy "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children, recent court filings include accusations against 22 additional clergymen for sexually abusing children in Rhode Island.
The new lawsuits contain details from alleged cases that are as horrific as those uncovered by Attorney General Peter Neronha's team over the course of their six-year investigation, which concluded that the Diocese of Providence went to great lengths to conceal the abuse by clergy of as many as 300 Rhode Island children over decades.
None of the newly named clergy members appeared on the credibly accused list made public by the diocese in 2019 or the expanded list the attorney general published in March, and none are named more than once.
Of the 22 new names, 21 have been confirmed to be deceased while the status of one Bishop Hendricken High School teacher accused of abuse in 1966 is unknown. If he is still alive, he would be over 100 years old.
What are the new allegations in these lawsuits?
The allegations stretch from 1958 to 1996.
They involve the alleged molestation of boys and girls, who are now anywhere from 38 to 79 years old, by clergy assigned to churches from Tiverton to Woonsocket and church-affiliated schools, including, in one case, a teacher at Bishop Hendricken.
One priest called it "Father's time."
Another allegedly gave his victim money "and told him not to reveal the abuse to anyone."
A third allegedly told his 7-year-old victim she was now “a wife of Jesus” as a result of her First Communion and then "grotesquely sexually abused and assaulted" her.
The sexual assault of a then 8-year-old boy took place in a sacristy of St. Francis de Sales Church in North Kingstown.
The alleged rape of two then 7-year-old girls – one of whom has since died by suicide – took place in the bathroom of the St. Madeleine Sophie Church in Tiverton.
The accusations touch on events that allegedly took place in: Saint Margaret's Church in East Providence; St. Benedict Church in Conimicut, Warwick; St. Joseph Parish in Pawtucket; St. Francis de Sales Church in North Kingstown; Saint Augustine Church in Providence; the former Our Lady of Consolation Church in Pawtucket; Sacred Heart Church in Woonsocket; St. Mary’s Church in Providence; Saint Lucy Church in Middletown; Saint Teresa Church in Providence; St. Madeleine Sophie Church in Tiverton; St. Maria Goretti Church in Pawtucket; St. Michael the Archangel Church in Providence; Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick; Our Lady of Grace Church in Johnston; St. Brendan Church in East Providence; St. Francis of Assisi Church in Wakefield; St. Ann’s Church in Providence; St. Kevin Church in Warwick; Holy Name Church in Providence; St. Christopher Church in Tiverton; and Holy Ghost Church in Providence.
Why are the names surfacing now?
These lawsuits have all been filed since July 1, when the General Assembly, in a law championed by Rep. Carol McEntee, authorized a "revival window" of two years for victims to file civil claims against their abusers and the institutions that failed to protect them, which until recently were barred by statutes of limitations and other legal restrictions.
Since the window opened on July 1, at least 180 lawsuits alleging clergy sex abuse had been filed as of Oct. 2, by a number of different law firms, though none have filed more than Decof, Mega & Quinn, who have filed 155 as of that point.
While the details differed, the core argument for the payment of punitive and other damages remained the same in each case.
"For decades, the Diocese of Providence exploited its immense institutional power and the public’s trust to shield child predators among its clergy from accountability," Julie Jyang, a lawyer with Sweeney Merrigan, wrote in one of the lawsuits.
"Rather than protect the minor children entrusted to its care, the Diocese protected its own reputation through concealment, inadequate investigation, and the reassignment and retention of clergy who posed a foreseeable risk of sexual abuse to children."
Put another way: The Roman Catholic bishop of Providence – and each individual church where the alleged abuse took place – failed to "maintain a reasonably safe environment and to protect" children from harm, "including sexual abuse committed by those in positions of trust and authority," according to multiple filings by Decof, Mega & Quinn.
This was the response from the diocese to Journal inquiries about the newly surfaced names of alleged child predators within the church:
"Each time we hear stories of victim-survivors, the trauma and pain are made real once again," said spokesman Michael Kieloch. "It's important to acknowledge that distress, as well as the efforts over many decades towards healing."
But "claims like those recently asserted, on average, from 50 years ago, raise many challenges for courts and litigants including lost evidence, deceased witnesses, and altered memories.
Allegations contained in filed complaints are in active litigation and diocesan responses will be in that forum."
While The Providence Journal asked for the diocese's help confirming if the newly named priests were dead or alive, and their assignment histories, the diocese did not respond.
Attorney General Neronha says they are not yet adding names to the credibly accused list
Neronha is not surprised that more names have surfaced since the opening of the revival window.
"We have never been of the view that the attorney general’s credibly accused list is a fully comprehensive, final list of all possible abusers within the Diocese of Providence," Neronha spokesman Timothy Rondeau told The Journal.
"But the fact that a civil complaint has been filed against the Diocese in which a priest is named is not, by itself, sufficient for the [attorney general's] office to add names to the list," Rondeau said.
Rondeau elaborated that the Rhode Island State Police and the attorney general's office would want to speak to additional alleged victims and review "materials in their possession that may not have been shared with this office and with the investigators during our review," he said.
As part of their investigation, Rondeau said Neronha's office reviewed more than 250,000 documents to develop the list of "credibly accused" clergy members.
In this context, he said, "credibly accused" means a case of alleged abuse against a child "where there is a reasonable basis to believe that the alleged conduct more likely than not occurred ... based on the totality of information" in the attorney general's possession, including law enforcement records, records of criminal proceedings and records “voluntarily produced by the Diocese."
Why weren't these clergy on the credibly accused list?
"I am not able to explain why the priests named in these cases didn’t appear on the AG’s list of credibly accused," said Mark Decof, with Decof, Mega & Quinn. "We have our suspicions, but nothing factual yet."
When asked if these cases against priests not on the credibly accused list would be harder to prove in court, Decof answered, "not necessarily."
"We will seek information when necessary from the AG’s investigation," he said. "We expect evidence that was obtained by or available to the AG would likewise be available to us. Our discovery efforts may be more productive."
Going deeper into the allegations
Some of the newly filed cases are sparse on details, but what details there are build up to allegations of 1st degree sexual assault in several cases – which means sexual assault with penetration – and 2nd degree sexual assault in others of lesser, but still highly inappropriate, sexual interactions with children.
One complaint alleges that the Rev. Auguste J. C. Delvaux Jr., now deceased, "placed [the plaintiff] and other children on his lap in the sacristy of St. Francis de Sales Church in North Kingstown, and touched a then eight-year-old boy inappropriately and without his consent."
His "conduct eventually escalated to grotesque sexual assault that occurred on multiple occasions," during what Delvaux allegedly called “Father’s time," according to the filing.
Another case filed by Decof's firm involves a complaint that actually reached the police – and then appeared to die in the face of adamant denials by the priest.
A now-79-year-old Westerly man alleges he was abused at age 12 by Monsignor Bernard J. Lennon, at St. Margaret Church in Rumford, when he was studying to be an altar server.
Lennon had been a major figure in the church's history.
"The tiny mission church of the 1880s became a leading parish in the diocese [when] on April 4, 1955, in answer to the community’s fast-growing needs, the pastor, Msgr. Bernard J. Lennon, began construction of a school and convent," according to the church's history on its website.
"A few months later, on Sept. 5, 1956, the doors of the St. Margaret’s school opened for the first time. It was a proud day on June 14, 1963, when thirty boys and girls became part of the first graduating class," the website reads.
The recently filed lawsuit tells a different story.
What began as "frequently touching ... escalated when Monsignor Lennon grotesquely sexually abused and assaulted plaintiff," the lawsuit says.
The abuse continued until the alleged victim was called out of his elementary school class and was asked to speak to a detective from the East Providence Police Department or the Rhode Island State Police.
According to the lawsuit, the officer interviewed him about the alleged abuse, "and then instructed him to go home and tell his parents."
According to the lawsuit, the boy and his parents confronted Lennon, who responded by telling the boy it was "not nice to say things like that," and prayed with him on the altar of St. Margaret Church.
At some point in the 2020s, the alleged victim spoke with the Rhode Island State Police "about the abuse committed by Monsignor Lennon.
He was told that they would not be able to pursue criminal charges because Monsignor was deceased."
Was anything more done by the school, the police or the church? That is not clear from the filling.
Lawsuits detail lifelong, horrific injuries
All of the filings seek damages for the lasting effects of childhood sex abuse, ranging from nightmares to night sweats, emotional distress, relationship difficulties, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse and a long-term need for counseling and treatment.
In one case, a woman now 64 years old describes the "severe and painful bowel issues'' she had as a child and the "rectal fissures" she dealt with later after repeated assaults that started when she was a 7-year-old attending catechism classes "associated with" St. Madeleine Sophie Church in Tiverton.
This filing graphically describes a priest, identified in the filing as the Rev. James Beagan, following two young girls into the bathroom, abusing them, and forcing the two girls "to watch each other being abused."
The second girl mentioned in the filing has since died by suicide.
As of the 1990s, Beagan appears to be deceased.
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