A Rhode Island man was molested as a child by a Roman Catholic priest who also trafficked children for sex while church leaders looked the other way, the man alleges in a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Providence.
Robert Houllahan, 51, of Providence, said in the suit filed Thursday that he was sexually abused by the late Rev. Normand Demers, who received the “protection and affirmative assistance” of the diocese and its leaders, The Providence Journal reported.
The diocese, current Bishop Thomas Tobin and retired Bishop Louis Gelineau are among the defendants named in the suit.
The Associated Press left telephone and email messages with a diocese spokeswoman on Friday.
Gelineau, when reached by the newspaper, said he would not be able to analyze the issues or recall facts enough to make a comment.
Demers was involved with foreign missions that had been described as orphanages or schools but that were in fact known to the diocese as a source of child sexual abuse victims, the suit says.
The diocese also assigned Demers to a parish even after learning he had been charged with abusing children in Haiti, the suit says.
Houllahan does not say he was trafficked for sex but said he saw children from Central America when he was brought to Demers’ private quarters in the rectory of St. Joseph in Providence in 1976, where he was molested by Demers and another man, according to his allegations in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
Houllahan was “severely and permanently injured, and suffered and will continue to suffer severe pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, humiliation, embarrassment, and loss of self esteem” as a result of the abuse, the suit says.
Demers, who died in 2018, was included on a list released by the diocese last year of clerics who had been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors.
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