Grant & Eisenhofer Today Files First Federal Complaint by Survivor of Rhode Island Clergy Sexual Abuse; Issues Message to Bishop To Embrace Truth & Reconciliation, Reject Bankruptcy

PROVIDENCE, R.I., July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Under a new state law giving childhood sexual abuse survivors their first chance in decades to obtain justice against their perpetrators, attorneys from Grant & Eisenhofer and their partner counsel today filed the first Federal complaint by a survivor of Rhode Island clergy abuse and issued a public plea for The Church to embrace truth and reconciliation, and flatly reject bankruptcy to resolve all claims against their assailants and enablers. Besides the lawsuit filing, the legal team is lodging an emergency motion to prevent The Church from destroying any evidence – including Church records of internal investigations - that might be relevant in litigating the cases. That request is largely based on concerns voiced in the recent report by Attorney General Peter Neronha

The plaintiff, a Rhode Island native and longtime Georgia resident, (identified as J. Doe to protect his privacy) in the Federal lawsuit (J. Doe vs. Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence and Saint Matthew’s Church of Central Falls, U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island, No. 1:26-cv-00433), asserts that he was groomed – enticed with gifts including candy and home-cooked meals - by his parish (St. Matthew’s of Central Falls) priest, the Rev. Roland Lepire, and then repeatedly sexually violated, including in the church rectory and in the home of the priest’s mother. “The abuse was open and obvious, and was known amongst other members of the clergy, and particularly the children,” according to the Complaint. It adds, “Having grown up in a Catholic community, Plaintiff grew up with the view that the Church and members of the clergy were morally good, and were not only an authority figure, but also a sacred refuge. The abuse by Fr. Lepire shattered his faith and left him with a distrust of anyone in authority.”  

Besides bringing the negligence, and related counts, lawsuit – seeking compensatory and punitive damages - on the first day of the new two-year revival window for bringing such actions, the attorneys released a plea on behalf of their client – and numerous other survivors they represent - to Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. Those survivors of clergy sexual abuse urge him to “embrace complete truth and reconciliation”, including providing without delay mental health services to help them heal. They also demand the Bishop flatly reject bankruptcy filing in favor of a more streamlined, effective way of achieving "real justice” for those physically and emotionally injured over decades by The Church. The systemic sexual abuse of children – more than 300 - was documented in a scathing investigative report by the Rhode Island Attorney General. The survivors-plaintiffs that signed on to the Bishop’s message state their preference is resolving individual documented restitution claims through an independent process, as recommended by the state Attorney General; an almost identical legal process has been effectively used elsewhere including in the Diocese of Washington, D.C.
     
“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,” said G&E legal team members Elizabeth (Beth) Graham, Steve Kelly, Garrett Gittler, and Firm Advocate Patrick Wall, a former Benedictine Priest, cannon lawyer and Church “Fixer”. Louise G. Herman, of the Herman Law Group, East Providence, serves as partner co-counsel.

“They are well aware of the more than 40 archdiocese, including Baltimore (where Bishop Lewandowski previously served as Auxiliary Bishop), when faced with similar, documented allegations of systemic clergy sexual abuse, quickly acted to shield their assets under federal bankruptcy laws. To date, the Baltimore Diocese has spent more than $18 million on legal fees, in contrast to the neighboring Diocese of Washington, D.C., that rejected bankruptcy and has been actively settling survivors’ claims and also providing them confidential mental health services through its Victims Assistance Program. Tragically, countless survivors have died before they received any reparations for their suffering. That’s not a path these Rhode Island Survivors want, and not a path they want the Bishop to take.”

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@ideadvisors.com / 215-514-4101

The full text of the Survivors Message to The Bishop Appears Below:

SURVIVORS MESSAGE TO RHODE ISLAND CATHOLICS
July 1, 2026

Dear Rhode Island Catholics,

We are not the enemy. Like you, we grew up in Italian, Irish, French, Portuguese and Hispanic Catholic families in the same neighborhoods in Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Central Falls where you lived. But we were horribly violated by priests, and like you, we were taught to obey without question. They robbed us of our innocence and caused us lifelong suffering. We are your brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers and we want to heal the gaping wound inflicted by the clergy abuse epidemic.

We do not want to bankrupt the Church. But we firmly believe that the Diocese of Providence cannot move forward without truly reckoning its past. That can only happen with truth and reconciliation.

Truth requires shining a light on the epidemic of sexual abuse within the Diocese of Providence. While Church leaders turned over some of their files to Attorney General Neronha, all the files should be publicly released. The Church should publish without delay the secret archive files of The Perpetrators so that: there is finally an end to clergy sexual abuse, permanently remove offending clerics rather than shuffling - as has been the repugnant practice - to Secret Treatment Facilities. These hidden files – the Canon 489 Files, also known as the Archivium Secretum - are part of state’s history and deserve special care and preservation. We urge the Diocese to view this as an opportunity to take responsibility for financially supporting the creation of a professional archivist position to curate a Clerical Sexual Abuse file – for public view here in Rhode Island - like the landmark one on the Archdiocese of Santa Fe curated at the University of New Mexico.

Reconciliation requires swift justice. Let’s work together toward healing the deep wound that clergy abuse has inflicted on our community. Urge Bishop Lewandowski to follow the lead of Cardinal Robert McElroy (while in California he led the formation of the Archdiocese Independent Victims Compensation Program), now Archbishop of Washington, D.C., Bishop Lewandowski has the opportunity to work collaboratively to design a fair, streamlined, independent process for evaluating survivors’ claims and providing them with just restitution in a matter of months, not years. This process is better for the Church, the Catholic community and Rhode Island’s courts. It is consistent with the type of healing our state needs and is much more reflective of who we are as Rhode Islanders.

We fear that Bishop Lewandowski will follow the familiar playbook used by so many diocese that have spent millions on high-priced bankruptcy lawyers outside litigation firms and forensic experts. Most recently, the Archdiocese of Baltimore has spent over $18 million in a bankruptcy process that has gone on for almost three years with no end in sight. In Baltimore alone, dozens of survivors with claims pending in the bankruptcy have died since the case was filed. But more than 44 diocesan bankruptcies demonstrate that the Church pays survivors roughly the same amounts on average that are paid in early settlements. Many bishops elect to pay national law firms millions of dollars as survivors abused in their schools and parishes die with no justice.

To share your views with the Bishop, email him at Bishop@dpvd.org or call 401-278-4500.

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