PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island: A report released by the attorney general has revealed that Catholic priests in Rhode Island preyed on hundreds of children for decades, and were protected by bishops more concerned with the church's reputation than the victims.

The report, released on March 4 by Attorney General Peter Neronha, follows years of investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island.

Neronha said the full extent of priest abuse in Rhode Island has been difficult to uncover for many years. Although it is the smallest U.S. state, nearly 40 percent of its people are Catholic, the highest proportion in the country.

He agreed with victims who say that not enough has been done to deal with the problem, even though it was exposed in the nearby Boston diocese in 2002.

"If you're the Diocese of Providence and you're listening, this is a scandal you must accept and fix," Neronha told reporters. "We cannot delay solutions or justice."

Neronha, who grew up as a Catholic, hopes the report will lead to legal reforms that give investigators more power and make it easier for victims to seek justice.

The investigation found that 75 Catholic priests abused more than 300 victims since 1950. However, officials said the real number of victims and abusive priests is likely much higher.

In response, the diocese admitted that child sexual abuse — especially by clergy — has been a serious problem. But it said the report also shows the church's willingness to share its internal records under a 2019 agreement with the state.

The diocese added that the report covers a 75-year history and might make readers think the problem is continuing or that the information is new. According to the church, that is not the case.

Church records show that the diocese often moved accused priests to new assignments without fully investigating complaints or informing law enforcement. Similar practices had been exposed in earlier investigations in Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities.

As in other places, the Diocese of Providence opened a "spiritual retreat-style" facility in the early 1950s for accused priests to seek treatment. Later, when the abuse began to be viewed as a mental health issue, priests were sent to formal treatment centers.

By the 1990s, some priests accused of abuse were placed on sabbatical leave.

For example, a priest named Robert Carpentier resigned after a victim reported in 1992 that he had been sexually abused by him as a 13-year-old in the 1970s. Carpentier admitted the abuse, was sent to a treatment center, and later went on sabbatical at Boston College. He retired in 2006 and continued to receive support from the diocese until he died in 2012.

The report found that most accused priests avoided punishment from both law enforcement and the church.

4 Current or Former Priests Charged with Sexual Abuse

Neronha's office has charged four current or former priests with sexual abuse based on allegations from 2020 to 2022. Three are still waiting for trial, while the fourth died after being declared mentally unfit to stand trial in 2022.

Only 20 priests — about a quarter of those named in the report — were criminally charged, and just 14 were convicted. Another 12 were removed from the priesthood or dismissed from church service.

One survivor said he had been groomed for more than a year before he was abused by the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Cranston in 1981. The survivor, whose name is not in the report, said the late Monsignor John Allard gave him special attention before the abuse began in the priest's bedroom when he was in ninth grade.

Although a review board found the allegation credible, the Vatican — after a request from then-Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin — allowed Allard to retire instead of removing him from the priesthood.

Neronha began the investigation in 2019, a year after a Pennsylvania grand jury released a major report saying that nearly 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children since the 1940s.

The Diocese of Providence said the report would not have been possible without the church's cooperation.