Criminal Charges Against 4 Current And Former RI Priests Following 7-Year AG Probe

The Rhode Island Attorney General charged four current and former Catholic priests with child sexual abuse following a seven-year investigation of the Diocese of Providence.

The charges were revealed along with the release of a scathing report that found "75 clergy, including 61 Diocesan priests and deacons, 13 religious order members, and one extern priest, who have been credibly accused of 'Sexual Misconduct Perpetrated Against a Child by Diocesan Personnel' and who reportedly abused over 300 victims during the Review Period."

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The investigation launched in 2019 involved the diocese agreeing to produce internal records relating to clergy abuse dating back to 1950, according to a media release from the attorney general's office.

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"Importantly, though the Diocese cooperated in producing a large volume of records, which laid bare the deep institutional and personal failures at the heart of this crisis, the investigatory process was also not without roadblocks of the Diocese’s own making," the release said.

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One of the current or former priests criminally charged, Edward Kelley, has already died, according to the release.

A grand jury indicted Kelley, a former Smithfield priest, on multiple counts of sexual assault, the release said.

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"In February 2022, the defendant was found by the Court to be incompetent to stand trial," the release said. "Kelley died at Eleanor Slater Hospital in 2022, and as a result the case against him was dismissed."

The other three facing criminal charges, according to the release, are:

• John Petrocelli, who was charged with committing multiple acts of child molestation against three male victims who were all under the age of 14. The charges stem from his time as an assistant pastor at Holy Family Parish in Woonsocket sometime between Nov. 6, 1981, and Oct. 3, 1990.
• James Silva, who was charged with multiple acts of child molestation against a male victim under the age of 14 between 1989 and 1990 during his time as interim director and assistant director at the Office of Ministerial Formation within the Diocese of Providence.
• Kevin Fisette, who was charged with first-degree child molestation against a juvenile male victim in Burrillville between Jan. 1, 1981, and Dec. 31, 1982 after he was appointed to serve as a deacon in Our Lady of Victory Parish in Hopkinton and as a chaplain at Rhode Island Hospital.

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