Every name on our credibly accused list page, and every one of the 42 individual clergy pages behind it, is published under a single rule: nothing appears unless it can be traced to an official source, cited to the exact page, and checked again. This page explains how that works — the sources we use, the checks each page goes through, how we handle the places where the official sources disagree, and what we deliberately choose not to publish.
Talk With Us — Confidentially
If you'd like to talk with someone about whether Rhode Island's revival window applies to your situation, you can reach us below. What you share is confidential, there is no cost to ask, and contacting us does not commit you to anything.
Confidential · Free · Speak with a Rhode Island attorney — in person, by phone, or by video.
What this database covers
The database consists of a master list page — all 75 names that appear on the Diocese of Providence’s published list and in the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 report, each name’s status reproduced verbatim and badged by which source lists it — and an individual page for each of the 42 deceased clergy named on the official lists. Where the two official sources classify a person differently, both classifications are stated side by side: the two priests the Diocese lists as “publicly accused” rather than “credibly accused” are presented with both labels and each source’s own explanation, because the disagreement between the official records is itself part of the record.
The three sources
Three official records — and only these — supply the facts on every page.
First, the Diocese of Providence’s published list and its individual clergy records. The status lines and assignment tables on our pages are reproduced from these verbatim, down to the source’s punctuation, place-name forms, and typographical quirks. Where the Diocese’s record contains an apparent typo, we preserve it and note it, because the record is the record.
Second, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 report — the 284-page report of the investigation that began in 2019 and reviewed more than 250,000 pages of diocesan documents.
Third, Appendix A to that report — the Attorney General’s 371-page volume of individual clergy summaries.
We host our own copies of the report and Appendix A so that every citation on every page opens the exact page cited. Before a single citation pointed at our copy of Appendix A, it was verified byte-for-byte identical to the Attorney General’s original by cryptographic checksum. And citations are pinpoint — not “the report says,” but the specific page, linked.
How each page is verified
Each clergy page goes through the same pipeline before publication, and again on audit. The Diocese’s live record is re-fetched and every assignment-table row is compared word for word against what our page prints. The relevant Appendix A pages are freshly re-read by optical character recognition rather than trusted from an earlier pass, because scanned documents can be misread and a citation is only as good as its latest check. Every quotation is verified character for character. Every factual sentence carries its citation. Each page prints the date its record was last verified.
Pages are then audited a second time — a full re-verification against all three sources — before publication. Some pages have received corrections at that stage: a citation moved to the correct page, an attribution added, a date restated with both sources. That is the point. The process is designed to catch its own errors before readers ever see them.
When the official sources disagree
They do, more often than you might expect. Our internal register of documented variances between — and within — the official sources currently runs to more than thirty items. A few examples, described without names: dates of birth the two sources print differently, in one case by what appears to be a day-and-month transposition; an entry whose header prints a death year eighteen years earlier than the same document’s own narrative supports; ordination dates that differ between the sources by days or weeks; and the Attorney General’s own website linking several Appendix entries to pages that are off by one — in at least six instances our citations use the true pages instead.
Our rule for every such conflict is the same: both versions are stated, each attributed to its source, and neither is silently “corrected.” We do not decide which official record is right. We show the reader exactly what each source says, and where a source contradicts itself, the contradiction is attributed to it. This is the most important discipline in the database, and it is why our pages sometimes read more cautiously than other lists you may find.
Criminal-status precision
“Credibly accused” is an investigative standard — the Attorney General’s more-likely-than-not determination under a defined agreement with the Diocese — not a criminal conviction, and our pages never blur that line. Every individual page states the person’s criminal-record status in one of four precise framings, each supported by citation: never criminally charged, stated affirmatively rather than left to implication; charged but died before any verdict — neither convicted nor acquitted; convicted, with the court-record details stated exactly as recorded; or acquitted, stated as prominently as any allegation on the page. The presumption of innocence is stated wherever it applies.
What we deliberately do not publish
No graphic detail. The official records contain descriptions of alleged acts that we do not reproduce. Our pages describe allegations at the level of the official findings and no further.
No survivor names — with one narrow exception: where the Attorney General’s report itself records that a survivor expressly consented to being named publicly and the name is integral to the record, such as a survivor for whom legislation is named.
No aggregation from unofficial sources. Media reports, advocacy databases, and other published lists are not sources for factual claims on these pages.
No machine-readable “Person” data markup on accused individuals. Search engines are given these pages as articles about the official record, not as structured profiles of the accused. It is a small technical choice that reflects the same principle as everything else on this page.
Corrections
An accuracy commitment means nothing without a correction path. Our published corrections policy names the attorney responsible for this database — Matthew T. Marin — and commits to a response within 48 hours of any correction request. Every clergy page links to it. If you believe anything in this database is wrong, we want to know, and the policy tells you exactly how to reach us.
Updates
The official records are not static — the Diocese’s list has changed over time, and official materials can be revised. Each individual page prints the date its facts were last verified against the live sources; when an official record changes, we re-check the affected pages and update the printed verification date.
Why we do it this way
A list like this is only useful if it can be trusted — by a survivor checking a name they have carried for decades, by a family member trying to understand, by a reporter who needs a citable source. Getting a date wrong, blurring an accusation into a conviction, or quietly resolving a conflict between official records would fail all of them. The record deserves exactness. That is the whole method.
About This Information
The complete set of verified entries lives in our credibly accused database, which anchors our Rhode Island clergy abuse resources.
About this information: This page describes our editorial and verification method. It is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
About the Attorney General’s report: The findings of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 report are the results of an investigation, not determinations of civil or criminal liability by a court. “Credibly accused” is the Attorney General’s investigative standard; it is not a criminal conviction. Individuals who have been charged are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Support resources: If you are a survivor seeking support, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office maintains a resources page for survivors of clergy abuse, at riag.ri.gov/diocese-report/resources.