Category:Rhode Island Diocese

From Eurêka

Diocese of Providence

• See also Diocese of Providence embezzlement

Diocese of Providence, RI 15 priests had been accused of sexual abuse up to January 2003 (NYT survey). 37 people filed sexual-abuse claims 1993-2003, and another 40 victims came forward in 2003. BishopsAccountability.org said it had found 125 accusations against clergy of the Diocese of Providence over the last half century, more than double the 56 previously acknowledged. Later, the diocese identified 83 priests.

Group of 39 lawsuit Plaintiffs battled the diocese for 10 years to get recompense for alleged abuse at the hands of 10 priests and a nun. Church lawyers attacked the victims' credibility and besmirched their families. They bombarded victims with as many as 500 written questions, demand 30 years’ worth of tax returns, required names and dates for every doctor visited back to age 12. They cross-examined mothers about their children's sex lives. As one victim put it “It’s intimidation...I feel like I am being reabused.” They were granted a $14.25 million settlement, September 2002.

Providence settlements Diocese of Providence, RI, where Rev. Angell was auxiliary bishop 1974-1992, paid more than $1 million to settle lawsuits that accused him and other leaders of covering up abuse by several priests. Bishop Angell testified in a 1990 lawsuit that he did not take seriously allegations made by both parishioners and assistant priests that the Rev. William O’Connell was molesting boys.

1. Diocese of Providence settlement To pay the $14.25 million the diocese had paid to abuse victims, Our Lady of Peace Spiritual Life Center and other properties were put up for sale and sold the 13.5-acre convent and provincial house property of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny in Newport for $4.3 million.
2. Diocese of Providence settlement 2008 Paid $1.3 million to four people who claimed they were abused by priests, including Marc Banville, Donald Leighton and Christopher Young who sued the diocese starting in 2003 alleging they were abused as children by Roman Catholic priests, 28 August 2008.

Krause ruling Justice Robert Krause of the State Superior Court made a landmark ruling in the case brought by Leland J. White to see documents related to the Silva case, “By no elastic stretch of the most fertile imagination can one rationally conclude that such information or any such communication deserves or merits confidentiality as expressions of religious freedom,” June 2002.

(alphabetical listing)

[83 offenders acknowledged, 25 listed]

Abruzzese case Rev. Joseph A. Abruzzese (1959-), assistant pastor at St. Anthony Church in North Providence, RI, ordained 1990, placed on leave in 1993, convicted of abuse of a 16 year-old-boy in Roger Williams Park. Abruzzese decided to plead no contest, placed on five years' probation, 1994.

Azzarone case Rev. Daniel M. Azzarone Jr., had been kept on the job despite allegations made in 1985 and the late 1990s, but the diocese said it was unable to substantiate those claims. Bishop Mulvee, who was not in Providence in 1985, said his staff did not tell him about the late-1990s accusation. Azzaribe was convicted of abuse and put on probation, 1994. Azzarone was indicted on charges he sexually assaulted two people over a one-year period, 5 April 2002.

Brassard affair Rev. Ronald E. Brassard accused of abuse, sued 1995.

Campbell case Rev. James D. Campbell, an assistant pastor at St. Joseph Church in West Warwick from 1975 to 1978, entered a guilty plea, admitted raping a boy, 22 December 2004, served a three-month sentence in the Worcester County, Mass. House of Correction# Campbell was accused of taking the boy to a restaurant in Uxbridge, Mass. and plying him with alcohol before raping him. A month after his indictment, Campbell was charged a second time, relating to a second victim, a 14-year-old parishioner. Campbell asked the Vatican to release him from priesthood and his request was granted February 2005. Carpentier affair Rev. Robert A. Carpentier accused of abuse. Settled 2002.

D'Angelo affair Rev. Joseph D'Angelo accused of abuse. Settled 2002.

DeAngelis affair Rev. Anthony DeAngelis (deceased) accused of abuse.

Demers case Rev. Normand J. Demers suspended in March 2002, after a man accused him of sexually assaulting him at least 35 years earlier while working as a hospital chaplain. Demers denied the allegations. Bishop Angell in 1989 promised to “take care of it” when Demers was accused of misconduct with boys while working at a Haitian orphanage. Demers was brought back to work in the Providence diocese.

1. Haitian orphanage affair Diocese had known about sexual misconduct allegations against the Demers since 1989, when boys complained at a Haitian orphanage he helped establish. They said he touched them inappropriately and brought them to his bedroom, one at a time, to disrobe in front of him while trying on clothing. Demers, who denied wrongdoing, was forced to resign and left Haiti to avoid prosecution.

Desrosiers affair Rev. Alfred R. Desrosiers accused of abuse. Settled 2002

Dunn case Monsignor Louis Ward Dunn (deceased) raped Mary Ryan in the bedroom of her Providence apartment in 1982. He was convicted of rape by a judge in 1997, given a 10 year sentence, 1999. It was the first rape conviction of a priest in Rhode Island.

1. Ryan lawsuit Mary Ryan filed a lawsuit in 1995 and was the only one in the Group of 39 lawsuit who did not join a $14.25 million settlement with the diocese, turning down a $400,000 settlement, preferring to continue her action.

LaMountain case Rev. Michael V. LaMountain Convicted of sexual abuse.

Leech case Rev. Paul Henry Leech was convicted, given 3 year sentence.

Lepire affair Bishop Salvatore Matano was director of the Providence diocese's priest personnel office in 1980 when he wrote to Bishop Louis Gelineau and suggested that the Rev. Roland Lepire be given another parish after Lepire was removed from parishes in Woonsocket and Cranston, R.I. "During my conversation with Father, he expressed a strong desire to return to parish ministry," Matano wrote to Gelineau on July 22, 1980, in a memo on file with the Providence Superior Court. “Perhaps if the psychiatrist's report is positive, Father Lepire could be considered for a parish assignment.” He was dismissed as a priest by the Providence diocese in 2004.

1. Anon accusation I Lepire was accused of molesting a boy in Woonsocket, 1979.
2. Anon accusation II According to a lawsuit filed in 2002, a Florida man claims Lepire molested him as a child in the early 1980s after reassignment.
3. Anon accusation III Lepire was also identified as a priest who molested another individual in a case settled out of court in 2002.

Magaldi affair Rev. Philip A. Magaldi, priest for four Clay and Montague county parishes from 1990-92. In 2000, Magaldi was trying to transfer from Fort Worth to a Florida diocese, having been removed from ministry at least three times – once for stealing from a parish and twice because of sexual abuse complaints. He had been returned to duty twice and, on another occasion, stayed on the job despite church investigators' conclusion that he was “guilty of sexual exploitation.”

1. Magaldi sexual abuse In Texas Magaldi was accused of sexual abuse, as he trolled chat rooms for minors and had “pedophilic material” on his computer, Rev. Tim Thompson pastor of St. John the Apostle Church knew of Magaldi’s abuse in 2000 but did not tell the police that a fellow priest might be a pedophile.

• See also Magaldi embezzlement

Marcantonio affair Rev. Robert A. Marcantonio accused of abuse. Settled 2002.

McIntyre affair Rev. Robert McIntyre accused of abuse.

Meglio affair Rev. Richard L. Meglio accused of abuse. Settled 2002.

Micarelli affair Rev. Edmund C. Micarelli accused of abuse. settled 2002.

O'Connell case Police searched Rev. William O’Connell’s home in South Kingston, RI, after receiving a complaint from a local resident, and arrested him 1985. They recovered a guest book inscribed with the names of all children who visited, a pair of elastic restraints and a metal strong box containing a cache of photographs of nude boys. He was convicted of multiple counts of sexually abusing children, served a short sentence and was defrocked, late 1980s. Thereafter, while still on probation, he relocated to New Jersey as a parish volunteer in the Camden Diocese, where he still had contact with children, committed more crimes and died in prison.

• See also Diocese of Camden

Petrocelli affair Rev. John Petrocelli, of Holy Family Church in Woonsocket, was accused by Christopher Young, of Lincoln (1979-) of sexually abused him in a series of incidents that began when Young was in elementary school and flunked his altar boy test, Young said the first incident of abuse occurred around the time of his first communion, in May 1987. The diocese fought to have his claim dismissed because of the statute of limitations.

Rocha case Rev. Joseph Rocha was convicted 2001 of abuse of retarded man, given 10 years probation.

Sadowski affair Rev. Edward Sadowski arrested on child pornography charges 2001.

Silva case Rev. James M. Silva at Jesus Saviour Church in Newport, RI, was transferred by the Diocese of Providence to 12 different parishes during the next 16 years, after sexually abusing teenager Leland J. White in 1970, whereafter the pattern of abuse continued with 8 other men. Silva pleaded guilty to criminal abuse charges 1995. Settled 2002.

Smyth case Rev. Brendan Smyth, an Irish priest who became a notorious figure in the annals of clergy abuse before his death in prison in 1997.

1. Smyth Ireland Rev. Brendan Smyth sexually abused children before he left Ireland in 1965. When he left, the local paper praised his pastoral works and the "hour after hour of unofficial attention to the girl scouts". His admissions to assaulting numerous children in Ireland are said to have figured prominently in the collapse of the coalition government there in the 1990s.
2. Rhode Island Smyth spent three years as a priest at Our Lady of Mercy parish in East Greenwich, ending in 1968 where he was accused of molesting as a second grader.
   1. Thomas accusation Jeffrey Thomas filed the lawsuit against the Diocese of Providence, Canons Regular of Premontre, the Premonstatensian Fathers, and the Nobertine Fathers . He claims he was abused at an East Greenwich parish school by Smyth when he was 7=years-old.
3. North Dakota Smyth spent time in North Dakota where he sexually abused children.
4. Norbertine Abbot admission Norbertine Abbot who was Smyth's superior for 25 years, Rev Kevin Smith, admitted Brendan Smyth had abused children in both US locations, 1995. He and others had known for decades about Smyth’s “problem” with children. Rev Smith stated in a letter to UTV television about Smyth's time in America: "On neither occasion was the bishop of the diocese to which he was sent notified of [Smyth's] propensity to molest children." "On both occasions, Fr Smyth offended against young parishioners," the abbot said. "I acknowledge that I, as his religious superior, committed a grave error in sending him abroad without warning the bishop to whom I sent him."
5. Smyth trial Rev. Brendan Smyth pleaded guilty to 74 counts of sexually abusing 20 boys and girls between 1958 and 1993, 1997. He died in prison shortly thereafter.

• See also Smyth case (Ireland)

Walderman affair Rev. John Walderman was accused of abuse, sued.