Overview
- Attorney General Peter Neronha’s 288-page report identifies 75 clergy credibly accused of abusing more than 300 children since 1950 and details a long-running culture of secrecy and priest transfers.
- Investigators reviewed over 250,000 diocesan files and found evidence of euphemistic record-keeping, destroyed confidential documents, withheld materials under privilege, and delayed cooperation.
- The report documents chronic underreporting to police, including only five referrals out of 65 complaints in the 1990s, with referrals increasing in recent years and all 18 complaints since 2020 sent to law enforcement.
- The probe led to criminal cases against four priests from 2020 to 2022, with three — John Petrocelli, James M. Silva, and Kevin Fisette — awaiting trial and a fourth, Edward Kelley, deemed incompetent and later deceased.
- Neronha recommends diocesan reforms such as monitoring credibly accused clergy and ending practices like polygraph requirements, along with state legislation to allow public grand jury reports, extend statutes of limitations, and create a limited look-back window; the diocese apologized, emphasized reforms, and said no credibly accused clergy remain in active ministry as survivors press for further accountability.