PROVIDENCE, R.I., June 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grant & Eisenhofer’s clergy abuse team is on the ground at the Rhode Island State House to witness the Rhode Island Senate enact a historic new law that will open the Courthouse doors to countless Rhode Island survivors. The legislators this week reached a bi-partisan compromise that removes the final hurdles to passage of a legislative reform package that would temporarily suspend the statute of limitations for many survivors of clergy abuse and childhood sexual abuse. The Firm is actively investigating claims against serial abusers who over decades likely abused at least hundreds of Rhode Island’s children.
This past March, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha issued a scathing report exposing widespread sexual abuse by priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Providence and the Diocese’s wide-ranging pattern of facilitating and covering up the abuse and silencing survivors. Rhode Island has the largest population of Catholics per capita in the U.S. and the Church has enjoyed virtually unchecked power in the legislature and the courts for much of the state’s history.
G&E’s Rhode Island team, including Attorneys Steven J. Kelly and former Benedictine priest, cannon lawyer and Church “Fixer” Patrick J. Wall, are in Providence this week – meeting with clients and legislators – while tracking the long-awaited reform legislation. (Media representatives covering the legislative/legal activity can contact them as noted below).
Mr. Wall stated, “We applaud Rhode Island’s leaders’ courage in standing up to the Church and other powerful institutions and in allowing survivors to hold these institutions accountable at long last. As the scriptures teach us, true change requires reckoning with the past and making those we have harmed whole. This legislation clears the way for that.” Attorney Elizabeth Graham, who leads the Firm’s Complex Litigation Group, commended the work of Attorney General Neronha and his team, who launched a robust investigation, the results of which are a detailed report that names perpetrators, details the abuses and sets the stage for critical civil proceedings against individuals and entities that engaged in or enabled the horrific abuse perpetrated upon so many of Rhode Island’s children for so long.
In more than six months of pre-suit investigation, the Firm has also developed a Rhode Island Clergy Abuse Lookup Tool to help survivors identify “credibly accused” clergy members and institutions referenced in the state's investigative findings. It also staffs a toll-free survivors hotline at 1-855-374-0256, where survivors can connect with the legal team that is specially trained in a trauma-informed approach to handling such matters.
Contacts:
Steven J. Kelly/ skelly@gelaw.com / 443-791-1886
Patrick J. Wall / pwall@gelaw.com / 302-333-6849
Elizabeth Graham / egraham@gelaw.com / 415-710-7973
Steph Rosenfeld / steph@idadvisors.com / 215-514-4101
