PROVIDENCE – A former Roman Catholic priest was indicted by a state grand jury on May 25 for allegedly sexually assaulting a male juvenile between 1981 and 1982 in Burrillville, R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and R.I. State Police Superintendent Col. Darnell S. Weaver announced Monday.
Kevin Fisette, 66, of Dayville Conn., is scheduled to be arraigned in Providence County Superior Court on June 8 on a charge of first-degree sexual assault. Nerona and Weaver said Fisette was ordained as a priest on Nov. 21, 1981, and was appointed to serve as a deacon in Our Lady of Victory Parish in Hopkinton during the time of the alleged incident.
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Neronha and Weaver said the Diocese of Providence in August 2009 removed Fisette from ministry, but he has not been dismissed from the clerical state by the Catholic Church.
Fisette is the fourth Rhode Island-based priest since November 2020 to be charged with sexual assault. Cases against former priests James Silva and John Petrocelli – both of whom have each been charged with multiple counts of child molestation – are currently being prosecuted, Neronha and Weaver said. Former Smithfield priest Edward Kelly, who was charged in May 2021 with multiple sexual assault counts, was found by the court not competent to stand trial in February.
Fisette’s case is also part of Neronha’s ongoing review of allegations of clergy sexual abuse and the Diocese of Providence’s handling of such allegations. Neronha said his office has gained access to more than 70 years’ worth of Diocese records, and his office is working with State Police to investigate and bring forth charges where appropriate.
“Our broad investigation of clergy child sexual abuse in Rhode Island has had, from its inception, two principal purposes: To prepare a comprehensive report of our findings regarding such abuse and the Diocese’ response to it, and along the way bringing individual criminal cases as they are developed, where the facts as alleged warrant them,” Neronha said in a statement.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
