March 5, 2026

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Attorney General Peter Neronha released a sweeping report Wednesday detailing decades of child sexual abuse and systemic coverup within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, identifying 72 clergy members as “credibly accused” of misconduct.

The report is the culmination of a yearslong investigation stemming from a 2019 agreement between the state’s top prosecutor and former Bishop Thomas Tobin. The agreement granted state investigators unprecedented access to the church’s “secret archives,” personnel files and internal records dating back to 1950.

Attorney General Peter Neronha unveiled a comprehensive report revealing decades of child sexual abuse and systemic coverup within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, naming 72 clergy members as credibly accused, based on an investigation initiated in 2019 that accessed the church’s secret archives and records dating back to 1950; while no new criminal charges or recent misconduct were identified, the report exposes a long, sordid history of trauma affecting generations of Rhode Island victims and their families.

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