Suddenly, it seems like there are public service announcements about child sexual abuse showing up everywhere: social media, television, and radio. Their message: if you are a Rhode Islander who was sexually abused as a child and your case ran up against the statute of limitations, there’s a two year window that has reopened your opportunity to pursue a civil claim — and not just against the perpetrator, but also against their associated institutions.

This so-called “revival window” began July 1, the day the law (H-7200a/S-2616a) took effect, and will close June 30, 2028.

Under the new law, survivors of child sexual abuse have 35 years from the date of the incident, or 7 years from the time they they realized that any emotional issues or trauma they suffer was the result of the abuse. The clock starts only after the survivor’s 18th birthday.

The law also allows survivors to pursue claims against the institutions through which they encountered their abuser, whether the institution knowingly failed to put a stop to the abuse or was simply negligent.

In March of this year, Attorney General Peter Neronha released 284-page report documenting more than 300 survivors of abuse within the Diocese of Providence and identified 75 “credibly-accused” members of the clergy, which can be accessed here: https://riag.ri.gov/diocese-report/credibly-accused-clergy.

The report also revealed the extent to which the Diocese, aware of the actions of some of its clergy, protected the perpetrators, not the survivors. An earlier, 2019 attempt to extend the statute of limitations was gutted in 2023 when the R.I. Supreme Court effectively exempted institutions including churches, schools, youth programs, and athletic organizations from claims.

One of the most egregious offenders on that list is a familiar name to many in Bristol. Fr. William C. O'Connell abused dozens of boys while serving as the parish priest at St. Mary’s Church. According to Neronha’s report, the Diocese was aware of allegations of abuse as early as 1978. McConnell was not arrested until 1985; he died in prison in 1996.

Father John Crafton, a resident of the Columban Fathers Seminary also appears on the list for allegedly abusing a girl in the 1960s.

“It’s been a long and difficult journey to get to this vote,” said Representative Carol Hagan McEntee, who sponsored the bill in the House of Representatives. “Too many victims have been denied justice for far too long. And powerful organizations that enabled and covered up this horrific abuse have escaped accountability and reckoning for decades.”