On Thursday, Gov. Dan McKee signed a bill amending the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse claims, opening the door for survivors to sue the Diocese of Providence.
The legislation allows survivors of sexual assault whose claims would be prevented by a statute of limitations to initiate legal action during a “revival window” beginning on July 1, 2026 and ending on June 30, 2028. Institutions can be held liable for conduct including negligence in supervising someone who sexually abused a minor and failing to report or concealing sexual abuse.
“This legislation sends a message to victims of child sex abuse that Rhode Island stands with you,” McKee said before signing the legislation on Thursday.
The legislation cleared the Rhode Island Senate 37-0 earlier this month and the Rhode Island House of Representatives 69-4 on Monday. Last year, a similar bill died in committee.
“For too long, organizations and systems have evaded legal and financial consequences simply by waiting out the clock,” said Representative McEntee (D-Narragansett, South Kingstown), who sponsored the legislation on the House side, at the during a bill-signing ceremony on Thursday. “Today, we close that loophole.”
The bill comes after R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha P’19 P’22 released a nearly 300-page report in March detailing widespread clerical sex abuse — and how the Diocese allegedly concealed it for decades. The report found 75 clergy members had credible allegations of sexual misconduct and documented more than 300 survivors of sexual abuse.
The Diocese opposed the legislation, arguing that similar retroactive laws outside Rhode Island led to bankruptcies of other dioceses. More than forty other dioceses across the country have filed for bankruptcy since 2004.
In 2019, the General Assembly extended the statute of limitations from seven years to 35 years after the crime or the survivor’s 18th birthday — in effect, until they turn 53. Child USA, a nonprofit advocacy organization, estimates the average age of disclosure of childhood sexual abuse at 52 years old.
The 2019 legislation also gave previously time-barred survivors the opportunity to sue. But in 2023, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the law only applied to cases brought against individual perpetrators and not to those against their supervisors or employers.
“It’s often said that justice delayed is justice denied. This was true for many years in Rhode Island for childhood victims of sexual assault, but today, these brave survivors were finally given the opportunity to secure justice for themselves,” McEntee said in a Thursday press release.
The Diocese of Providence did not respond to The Herald’s requests for comment.
Talia is a metro section editor covering the health and environment and community and culture beats. She is a sophomore from Bethesda, MD studying history and international and public affairs. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Providence one wrong turn at a time.
