Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic boarding and day school operated by Benedictine monks in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, has faced sexual abuse allegations involving different members of its community and events separated by decades.
A school-commissioned investigation examined allegations involving two former monks whose conduct dated from the late 1950s through the early 1980s. Years later, a former student filed a lawsuit alleging that a teacher initiated a sexual relationship with her while she was a teenager.
The cases followed different legal paths, but both raise important questions about how schools respond when students report abuse, how institutions preserve evidence and whether survivors receive timely information about their legal rights.
Independent Investigation Identified Credible Allegations Against Two Monks
In August 2017, Portsmouth Abbey released a report prepared by a law firm. The school’s Board of Regents commissioned the investigation to examine allegations involving members of the monastic and school communities, determine what administrators knew and review the school’s child-protection policies.
Investigators reported multiple credible accounts involving Father Bede Gorman and Father Geoffrey Chase. Allegations against Father Bede included incidents dating to the late 1950s and early 1970s. The report stated that one former school leader recalled confronting Father Bede after receiving a complaint from a parent and said the monk acknowledged inappropriate conduct involving a student. Investigators found no evidence that the incident was reported to law enforcement at the time. Father Bede died in 1985.
The report also addressed allegations against Father Geoffrey. School and monastery leaders reportedly learned about those allegations in 2002 and sought legal advice about whether they were required to make a report. Because the known survivors were adults by then, investigators described the reporting obligation at the time as legally ambiguous. No report was made to police or the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Portsmouth Abbey publicly apologized following the investigation, and the school pledged to fund therapy for affected survivors.
Former Student Alleged Abuse by a Teacher
A separate case centered on a student who attended Portsmouth Abbey from 2010 to 2014. In a lawsuit filed in 2020, she alleged that a humanities teacher, who was approximately 50 years old, sexually abused her beginning during her sophomore year and continuing through graduation.
Court records state that the former student disclosed the alleged abuse to her parents in 2015. Her mother then contacted school administrators and provided emails that the school believed indicated a sexual relationship. Portsmouth Abbey’s outside counsel reported the matter to the Portsmouth Police Department, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
Police investigated but did not bring criminal charges. The teacher resigned shortly after school representatives confronted him and informed him that he would be suspended pending an investigation.
The absence of criminal charges does not determine whether a survivor may have a civil claim. Criminal and civil cases use different procedures, legal standards and deadlines. Civil litigation may examine whether an individual or institution should be held financially responsible for alleged harm even when no criminal prosecution occurred.
Referral Chain Became Central to the Lawsuit
The former student’s later interactions with Portsmouth Abbey became a major issue in her civil case.
Court records state that the former teacher began attempting to contact her again after she had moved to New Mexico. In 2017, her mother asked the school for assistance. Portsmouth Abbey connected the family with a group that referred the matter to a consultant who later referred the family to attorneys at a law firm that had represented Catholic organizations in sexual abuse matters.
The student argued that the series of referrals prevented her from learning about or pursuing potential claims against Portsmouth Abbey before the applicable filing period expired.
The federal court acknowledged that the connections among organizations associated with Catholic institutional matters appeared to be “more than coincidence.” Nevertheless, it found no factual evidence that Portsmouth Abbey had instructed the attorneys to conceal a possible claim, mislead the student or deliberately allow the deadline to pass.
The attorneys’ engagement focused on seeking an order to stop the former teacher from contacting her. According to the court, the student and the referred professionals did not discuss suing Portsmouth Abbey or the statute of limitations governing such a lawsuit.
Court Dismissed the Claims Because of the Filing Deadline
A federal judge initially allowed most of the former student’s lawsuit to survive Portsmouth Abbey’s motion to dismiss. On February 9, 2024, however, the court granted summary judgment to Portsmouth Abbey. The judge concluded that the claims against the school were barred by the statute of limitations and that the evidence did not support applying equitable tolling, fraudulent concealment or another exception.
The decision was procedural. It did not conclude that the former student’s allegations were false. Instead, the court determined that Rhode Island law, as it applied at that time, prevented the claims against the school from proceeding because they had been filed too late.
For survivors, this distinction is critical. A case may be dismissed without a trial and without a jury evaluating the underlying allegations when the court decides that a legal deadline has expired.
Rhode Island’s Revival Window Offers Some Survivors Another Opportunity
Rhode Island has since changed its law. Governor Dan McKee signed legislation on June 11, 2026, creating a two-year period for survivors to bring certain childhood sexual abuse claims that were previously barred by statutes of limitations.
The law took effect on July 1, 2026. It applies not only to claims against alleged perpetrators but also to certain claims against institutions or supervisors accused of contributing to abuse through conduct such as negligent supervision, hiring, monitoring, failure to report or concealment.
Previously expired claims covered by the law must generally be filed no later than June 30, 2028. Eligibility depends on the facts of each case, including where the alleged abuse occurred, the survivor’s age and the parties who may be legally responsible.
Because locating records, witnesses and other evidence can take time, survivors considering a claim should not assume that they must wait until the deadline approaches.
Get Legal Help From Helping Survivors
Survivors of alleged sexual abuse at Portsmouth Abbey School, or at another Rhode Island school, church, youth organization or residential institution, may now have options that were previously unavailable.
Helping Survivors provides compassionate information and legal assistance to people affected by childhood sexual abuse. Our team can help you understand Rhode Island’s revival window, evaluate whether an expired claim may have been reopened and connect you with resources for pursuing accountability.
Speaking with someone does not require you to make an immediate decision about filing a lawsuit. Contact Helping Survivors today to learn about your rights before Rhode Island’s revival window closes on June 30, 2028.
