Robert A. Carpentier-Assignment

Rev. Robert A. Carpentier

Summary of Case: Resigned from his position in 1992 after one man filed civil suit alleging abuse at age 13 between 1973-1974. Civil suit filed 1992. Questions in case re statute of limitations referred to R.I. Supreme Court which ruled against plaintiffs abused as minors. See 1996 R.I. Lexis 187, 7/11/96. Claims against this priest were settled Sept. 2002 as part of $13.5 mil mass settlement involving 36 victims of priest abuse in Providence Diocese.

Ordained: 1967

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
June 1967 Bishop of Providence was Russell J. McVinney (1948-1971).	September 1967	St. Clare's	Misquamicut	RI	Assistant Pastor	This assignment not indexed or listed in the Official Catholic Directory. (Information is from a 1998 legal complaint.)
September 1967	September 1969	Precious Blood (French)	Woonsocket	RI	4/4, 3/3 Pastor was Msgr. Oscar A. Guibault. Rev. Lucien W. Roussel was second priest 1967-1968. Priest listed before Carpentier both years was Rev. George L. Allard.	Parish had a school (St. Clare's) with 197-183 boys and 222-195 girls.
September 1969 Louis E. Gelineau replaced McVinney as bishop (1971-1997).	September 1973	St. Agatha's	Woonsocket	RI	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Eugene J. Durocher.
1973	1976	Our Lady Queen of Martyrs	Woonsocket • Accusation surfaced in 1992 that Carpentier sexually assaulted a 13 yr. old boy at this parish in 1973 or 1974. (Providence [RI] Journal-Bulletin July 3, 1994). Later admitted to "misconduct" (Boston Globe March 16, 2002).	RI	2/2 Pastor was Rev. Lucien W. Roussel.
April 1975	?	Camp-o-reet Boy Scout Camp	Yawgood	RI	Selected to assist Scout Chaplain Rev. Edmund C. Micarelli, along with Revs. William C. O'Connell, and Robert A. Marcantonio (per 1998 legal complaint) .	Camp-o-reet was a camping and spiritual retreat for young boys. O'Connell and Marcantonio at the time were known by diocesan hierarchy at the time to have had allegations of sexual abuse of boys against them. Micarelli accused of molesting at least seven boys (per 1998 legal complaint).
1976	1982	Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary	Marieville	RI	2/2, 2/3 Pastor was Rev. Robert J. Maynard. During 1979-1982, Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Joseph L. Hebert, was in residence.
1982	January 1992	St. Theresa of the Child Jesus	Nasonville	RI	1/1 Carpentier invited Rev. James M. Silva to fill in for him while Carpentier vacationed, during which time Silva molested a boy at St. Theresa's (per 1998 legal complaint).	Silva accused of molesting boys, and pleaded guilty in 1995 to one sexual assault.
January 1992	April 1992	St. John the Evangelist	North Smithfield	RI	Pastor	Not indexed or listed at St. John's in the Directories. (Information is from news reports and a 1998 legal complaint.) Carpentier resigned from ministry after Bishop Gelineau became aware of the allegation against him of abuse of a boy in 1973 or 1974 (Providence [RI] Journal-Bulletin July 3, 1994).
1992 Robert E. Mulvee replaced Gelineau as bishop (1997-2005).	2002	Absent on leave				2002 is the last year Carpentier appears in the Official Catholic Directory. As of 1995, Carpentier is said to have been residing, along with admitted sex offenders Rev. Alfred R. Desrosiers and Michael V. LaMountain, at the Regina Cleri Residence and/or Rectory of St. Joseph's in Providence (per 1998 legal complaint).

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1968-2002).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy & Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.