RHODE ISLAND
NBC 10
A former priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence who was accused of sexual assault has died.
According to an online obituary posted Tuesday by the Providence Journal, 67-year-old Rev. Barry Meehan of West Warwick passed away “suddenly” Dec. 8.
The newspaper reports that Meehan was scheduled for a pre-trial conference Jan. 4.
In 2015, Meehan pleaded not guilty in Superior Court to five counts of first-degree sexual assault. Meehan was later released on bail, as well as ordered to surrender his passport and to stay away from the alleged victims.
An indictment noted that Meehan was accused of sexually assaulting a boy over 14 years old between April 1986 and January 1991 while assigned to St. Mary Parish in Cranston.
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