Revived abuse law triggers 34 lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church on first day

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and churches across Rhode Island are so far facing 33 state lawsuits and at least one federal complaint alleging decades of sexual abuse committed by clergy and other officials.

That’s just the number of cases filed on Wednesday, the first day victims could file complaints under a two-year revival window allowing previously expired claims against institutions such as the diocese to begin again. The General Assembly passed landmark legislation in June amending the state’s statute of limitations. Gov. Dan McKee signed the legislation into law on June 11.

The window closes June 30, 2028, under the new law. Previously, those victims had 35 years after turning 18 to sue individual priests, teachers, coaches and others who molested them, or up until they turned 53.

Complaints reviewed by Rhode Island Current contain abuse allegations dating back to 1958, all claiming the diocese knew or should have known about the sexual crimes its officials and staff committed.

Nearly all of the complaints filed Wednesday in state court were represented by Decof, Mega & Quinn, the Providence law firm also suing Brown University for negligence over the Dec. 13, 2025, campus shooting that left two students dead and nine others injured. Many of the abuse claims contain the same language:

“Defendants intended, or acted with reckless disregard of the likelihood, that their collective conduct would prevent discovery of abuse, enable continued access to children, and protect perpetrators and institutional interests from scrutiny and accountability.” 

The General Assembly passed the legislation after the long-awaited release of a 282-page report by the office of Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha in March, detailing decades of abuse by clergy and covered up by the Diocese of Providence. A total of 72 deacons and priests faced credible accusations of abuse dating as far back as the 1950s, according to the report. 

AG details scope of Catholic Church child sexual abuse and cover-ups in RI over decades

Only 14 remained alive by the time of its publication.

Attorney Mike Quinn said in an interview Thursday that his firm has prepared at least 130 claims against the diocese.

“It was an important day after a long period of waiting for a lot of people,” Quinn said of Wednesday’s filings. 

Rhode Island Current does not name survivors of sexual abuse without their consent.

One victim from among the cases filed Wednesday is a man in his late 70s who now lives in Westerly. He has been waiting for justice since 1958. The lawsuit filed against the diocese claims he was repeatedly abused by the Most. Rev. Bernard J. Lennon, a monsignor at St. Margaret’s Church in East Providence until the day he was called out of class at his elementary school and asked to go to the principal’s office to speak with a police detective. 

Lennon founded the St. Margaret School, which serves students from pre-K through eighth grade, in 1955.

The detectives instructed the victim to tell his parents about the abuse, which he did. The lawsuit claims the plaintiff and his family confronted Lennon, who responded by saying it was “not nice to say things like that.”

“In or about the 2020s, plaintiff spoke with the Rhode Island State Police about the abuse committed by Monsignor Lennon,” the lawsuit states. “He was told that they would not be able to pursue criminal charges because (the) monsignor was deceased.”

In another suit, a man in his 70s who now lives in Connecticut, said he was abused by the Most Rev. John Ferry when he was a 14-year-old student at Our Lady of Providence Seminary in 1964. The victim claims Ferry convinced him to strip to his underwear under the pretense of evaluating his physical fitness before sexually assaulting him at the priest’s mother’s home.

The AG’s report notes Ferry allegedly sexually abused four boys and a young man between the ages of 15 and 18 years old during the 1960s. A victim who alleges he was abused in 1967 first reported the abuse in 2002, according to the report.

Ferry died on April 11, 1988.

“Our expectation is that via the proper discovery process we’ll find out more about what happened and the explanation for it,” Quinn said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

The federal complaint against the diocese and St. Matthews Church in Central Falls, now known as the Holy Spirit Parish, was filed by a Delaware-based firm, Grant & Eisenhofer. 

“Members of this initial group of survivors-plaintiffs, and certainly many others whose complaints will be filed in the near future, were raised as devout Catholics, and are only asking the Bishop to practice what he has preached, and to follow the lead of the Holy Father in achieving the full measure of transparency and accountability,” attorneys for the firm said in a statement Wednesday night. 

The complaint identifies the plaintiff as a John Doe who now resides in Georgia who was allegedly abused by the Most Rev. Roland Lepire in 1980 or 1981 when he was either 10 or 11 years old.

“The abuse was open and obvious, and was known amongst other members of the clergy, and particularly the children,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants had a duty to eliminate dangerous conditions on their premises, of which they were or should have been aware,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff’s abuse, which was facilitated, enabled, and covered up by the Defendants, caused him to struggle throughout his life and Plaintiff has suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally for the past several decades.”

The AG’s report notes Lepire allegedly abused at least six boys between 1975 to 1980 at parish assignments in Woonsocket, Cranston, and Central Falls. Lepire was placed on leave by church officials in 1996 after a victim from St. Mary’s in Cranston disclosed his abuse and filed a lawsuit.

But a separate lawsuit for another victim filed by Decof, Mega & Quinn claims Lepire abused a 15-year-old in 1983 in his office.

Lepire was ultimately dismissed from the priesthood in 2004, and died on Feb. 26, 2025, at the age of 76.

During legislative debate, some lawmakers questioned the constitutionality of reopening the window on expired claims. Senate Judiciary Chairman Matthew LaMountain, a Warwick Democrat, even proposed a resolution that would have referred the matter to the Rhode Island Supreme Court for an advisory opinion.

Lawmakers held the resolution for further study after the Senate amended the initial bill that passed the House in April.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Providence did not immediately respond to request for comment on the lawsuits against the church. Rhode Island Current also reached out to a Providence law firm that has represented the diocese in a variety of legal matters but did heard back as of late Thursday afternoon.