Rhode Island has joined more than two dozen other states that have enacted laws expanding access to civil courts for child victims of sexual abuse.
Governor Dan McKee signed legislation amending the statute of limitations for child victim claims of sexual abuse and creating a two-year window for victims to bring otherwise time-barred claims against institutions and supervisors accused of enabling or covering up sexual abuse.
The new law takes effect on July 1, 2026.
Its enactment comes after the release of a report in March by Attorney General Peter F. Neronha accusing the Catholic Diocese of Providence of a “well-worn pattern” of failing to remove dozens of priests accused of child sexual abuse and keeping the abuse secret over decades. The report identified 75 clergy members who sexually abused more than 300 children since 1950. The investigation found that accused priests were repeatedly returned to ministry.
The Diocese of Providence has complained that the AG’s report fails to sufficiently acknowledge that lessons have been learned and that changes have been made to protect children and cooperate with law enforcement.
Report Lays Out Decades of Child Sex Abuse by Clergy in Rhode Island Diocese
Providence Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski has acknowledged that it is appropriate to critically examine the diocese’s “serious missteps” of the past regarding child sex abuse. However, the bishop said it is “undeniable” that the diocese has “effectively responded to these issues” with reforms to protect children that “have proven to be overwhelmingly effective.”
In March testimony by Reverend Bernard Healey opposing the legislation, the diocese noted it has paid $21 million to survivors and continues to provide funds for counseling. It pointed out that similar law changes in other states have resulted in dioceses declaring bankruptcy and warned that the legislation will “severely undermine the Catholic community’s ministries in Rhode Island and is likely to result in lost jobs and impaired programs and services to the poor and needy.”
The diocese also said that the lawsuits that will be brought against the church and other institutions will earn fees for plaintiffs’ lawyers but do “nothing to enhance the security of young people.”
Kathryn Robb and Jessica Schidlow of the Children’s Justice Campaign at Enough Abuse disputed the church’s assertion that the change will not help young people. They told lawmakers that not only does the legislation acknowledge the “realities of delayed disclosure and the long-term impacts” of child sexual abuse but it also “sends a strong message to would-be offenders and the institutions that enable them that they will be held accountable, thereby creating a safer environment for Rhode Island’s children now and into the future.”
The AG brought criminal charges against four current and former priests for child sexual abuse they allegedly committed while serving in the diocese. Among its recommendations, the AG’s report proposed amending the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims as lawmakers have now done.
The New Law
The Ocean State’s legislation (2026-H 7200A, 2026-S 2616A) was sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Carol Hagan McEntee (D- Narragansett, South Kingstown) and Sen. Mark McKenney (D- Warwick). About 28 other states have either eliminated or amended their statutes of limitations for child victims of sex abuse.
“At no point in this process did we ever stop working to find a way to bring a strong and constitutional bill to the floor so that victims can access justice,” said McKenney. “This legislation will apply to institutions the civil culpability that we have already applied to the perpetrators. To see why this is so necessary, one only needs to look to the Attorney General’s report on abuses, which describes the shameful actions of an institution more interested in protecting its reputation than the children in their care.”
For Survivors, Rhode Island Clergy Abuse Report Brings Vindication and Demands
“Too many victims have been denied justice for far too long. It’s often said that justice delayed is justice denied. This was true for many years in Rhode Island for childhood victims of sexual assault, but today, these brave survivors were finally given the opportunity to secure justice for themselves, and I am extremely grateful to my House colleagues and the Senate for the overwhelming passage of the bill and to Governor McKee for signing it,” said McEntee.
The new law establishes a two-year civil “revival window” that opens from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028. During this 24-month period, survivors can file civil suits even if the statute of limitations on their claims had previously expired. Thus older survivors now in their 60s or 70s are being given a chance to sue.
That window is only temporary for those survivors who missed their opportunity. For other survivors, the statute of limitations begins running when the survivor turns 18. Future claims must be filed by whichever date is later: either 35 years from the date of the abusive act (or age 53) or seven years from when the survivor first discovers or reasonably connects their adult injuries to the childhood abuse.
The new law specifically targets institutions and organizations such as churches, schools, youth programs, healthcare facilities and sports leagues, as well as supervisors. Organizations can now be held civilly liable for negligent hiring, inadequate supervision, failure to report, or deliberate concealment of an abuser. This provision is meant to address a 2023 Rhode Island Supreme Court ruling that had restricted revived claims strictly to individual perpetrators.
For newly revived claims, prejudgment interest is to be calculated from the date the claim is officially noticed or filed, rather than the date the decades-old abuse occurred. Prejudgment interest does not apply to the state or its subdivisions.
The law also preserves prior judgements of the courts.