Rhode Island’s new child sexual abuse law (H-7200A/S-2616A), signed by Governor Dan McKee on June 11, 2026, and effective July 1, 2026, changes everything for survivors whose civil claims were blocked by expired deadlines. If you are an attorney with a survivor client in Rhode Island, or a co-counsel seeking a firm with deep experience in these cases, this page explains what the law does, who it affects, and why partnering with Sommers Schwartz gives your client the strongest possible path to justice.

Table of Contents

• What Rhode Island’s New Revival Window Law Actually Does
• Why the Houllahan Decision Made This Law Necessary
• Who Qualifies to File During the Revival Window
• How Sommers Schwartz Works With Referring Attorneys and Co-Counsel
• Why the Two-Year Deadline Creates Urgency for Referring Attorneys Right Now
• FAQs About Rhode Island Revival Window Cases for Referring Attorneys

What Rhode Island’s New Revival Window Law Actually Does

Governor Dan McKee signed legislation amending the statute of limitations for child victim claims of sexual abuse and creating a two-year window for victims to bring otherwise time-barred claims against institutions and supervisors accused of enabling or covering up sexual abuse. That is the core of the law. Nothing more, nothing less.

The new law establishes a two-year civil “revival window” that opens from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028. During this 24-month period, survivors can file civil suits even if the statute of limitations on their claims had previously expired. All time-barred claims must be filed by June 30, 2028, or they may be forever barred.

The law targets a specific gap that had long denied survivors justice. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51, commonly known as Annie’s Law, the 2019 amendments extended the civil statute of limitations and revived expired claims against individual perpetrators. But the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Houllahan v. Gelineau made clear that the 2019 law did not reach institutions or supervisors who enabled or concealed abuse. Those “non-perpetrator” defendants, as the Court defined them, remained shielded. H-7200A/S-2616A closes that gap for a two-year period.

Institutions can be held liable for conduct including negligence in supervising someone who sexually abused a minor and failing to report or concealing sexual abuse. This matters enormously for cases involving the Diocese of Providence, Catholic schools, youth programs, and other institutions where supervisors looked the other way while abuse continued.

The window is temporary. Referring attorneys need to understand that any client whose claim against an institution was previously time-barred must file before June 30, 2028. There is no extension built into the law. The clock is already running.

Why the Houllahan Decision Made This Law Necessary

The 2023 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in Houllahan v. Gelineau was a hard blow for survivors. Understanding what that ruling did is essential for any attorney evaluating a revival window case today.

In Houllahan, the Court drew a sharp line between two categories of defendants under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51. A “perpetrator” defendant is the individual who directly committed the abuse, or someone who aided and abetted the abuse to the level of criminal principal liability under R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-1-3. A “non-perpetrator” defendant is an institution or supervisor who facilitated or concealed the abuse but whose conduct did not rise to the level of criminal aiding and abetting. The 2019 version of Annie’s Law revived expired claims only against perpetrators. The Court held it did not revive claims against non-perpetrators.

That distinction had devastating consequences. The Rhode Island Attorney General’s March 2026 report on the Diocese of Providence documented how institutions, not just individual priests, bore responsibility for scores of children being victimized. The Rhode Island Attorney General released a comprehensive report on March 4, 2026, of a multi-year investigation into clergy sexual abuse within the Diocese of Providence, identifying approximately 75 clergy members with credible allegations involving more than 300 minor children and describing patterns in which accused clergy were re-assigned and allegations were inconsistently reported to authorities.

Institutional defendants, including dioceses and school administrations, typically have far greater financial resources than individual perpetrators. Many accused priests are deceased. In 2023, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the 2019 law only applied to suits against individual perpetrators, not the institutions or supervisors who enabled them. H-7200A/S-2616A directly answers that ruling by creating a window for exactly those institutional claims.

For referring attorneys, this means cases that seemed closed after Houllahan may now be viable. Evaluating each client’s facts against the new statute is the immediate priority.

Who Qualifies to File During the Revival Window

The revival window is available to survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Rhode Island whose civil claims against institutions or supervisors had previously expired. The abuse does not have to have occurred recently. Older survivors now in their 60s or 70s are being given a chance to sue. The law does not impose an age ceiling for claims filed within the window period.

The institutional settings covered are broad. It applies to survivors of sexual abuse in any institutional setting, including churches, schools, youth programs, athletic organizations, and anywhere else an institution failed to protect a child in its care. This means claims arising from abuse at Catholic parishes, parochial schools, private and boarding schools, youth organizations, residential facilities, and similar settings all fall within the window’s reach.

Under the amended R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51, non-perpetrator defendants include those whose conduct involved negligent supervision of a person who sexually abused a minor, wrongful conduct in hiring or employment, failures in training or monitoring, failure to report abuse, or active concealment of abuse. Each of those theories is now open to survivors with previously expired claims during the two-year window.

Survivors who already have active claims against individual perpetrators under the pre-existing revival provision of Annie’s Law may also have new claims against institutional defendants that were previously unavailable. Referring attorneys should review every existing file with this in mind. A client who sued a priest but could not sue the diocese may now have both claims open simultaneously.

The statute of limitations is tolled for minors until they turn 18. So for abuse that occurred in childhood, the clock under Annie’s Law does not begin running until the survivor reaches adulthood. For the revival window specifically, the deadline is fixed at June 30, 2028, regardless of the survivor’s age or when they turn 18.

How Sommers Schwartz Works With Referring Attorneys and Co-Counsel

Sommers Schwartz has a long track record of partnering with referring attorneys and co-counsel on complex sexual abuse cases across multiple states. Rhode Island’s revival window creates a concentrated two-year period in which a significant volume of institutional abuse claims will be filed. Firms that handle a wide range of practice areas, or that are licensed in other states, often have clients who need a dedicated sexual assault attorney with specific experience in Rhode Island’s legal framework, survivor-centered litigation strategy, and institutional liability claims.

When you refer a client to Sommers Schwartz, you remain part of the process. We treat co-counsel relationships with transparency and respect. Referral fees are handled in compliance with Rhode Island Rules of Professional Conduct, and we keep referring attorneys informed at every stage of the case. Your client’s trust in you is something we protect.

Our attorneys understand the specific statutes at issue here. We know Annie’s Law, R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51, the Houllahan decision, and the new H-7200A/S-2616A framework inside and out. We know how to build institutional liability claims, how to handle discovery against dioceses and school administrations, and how to litigate cases involving historical abuse where documentary evidence may be decades old. If your client needs a sexual abuse lawyer who handles clergy and institutional cases specifically, we are ready to step in alongside you.

We also understand that survivors come to these cases carrying decades of pain. Our approach is always trauma-informed. We never push clients to move faster than they are ready to move, and we never treat a survivor’s story as just another file. That approach matters to referring attorneys who care about what happens to their clients after the referral.

Why the Two-Year Deadline Creates Urgency for Referring Attorneys Right Now

The revival window opened July 1, 2026. It closes June 30, 2028. That is 24 months. In the context of complex institutional abuse litigation, that is not a long time. Investigating claims, identifying institutional defendants, gathering historical records, and filing suit all take time. The earlier a case is filed, the more time there is to conduct thorough discovery before the window closes and any remaining unfiled claims become permanently barred.

The two-year window, also known as a “lookback window,” temporarily lifts the statute of limitations of previously expired claims. Once it closes, it closes. Rhode Island law does not guarantee another opportunity. Other states that have enacted similar windows, including New York with its Child Victims Act, have not always extended them, and survivors who waited until the final months of the window faced crowded courts and compressed timelines.

If you have a client who was sexually abused as a child in Rhode Island, and you believe an institution, diocese, school, or supervisory organization may have enabled or concealed that abuse, now is the time to evaluate that claim. Do not wait for the second year of the window. The investigation takes time. Expert witnesses take time. Institutional records take time to obtain.

Sommers Schwartz is prepared to move quickly on qualified cases. We can conduct an initial case evaluation promptly, identify the viable defendants under the new law, and begin the litigation process without delay. If your client is a survivor of clergy abuse, institutional school abuse, or abuse within any organization that owed a duty of care to a child, contact us now to discuss a co-counsel or referral arrangement. The window is open. The time to act is today.

Survivors who are ready to explore their options can also reach out directly. Working with a sexual assault lawyer who understands both the legal framework and the human experience of abuse can make a profound difference in how this process feels and what it ultimately achieves. What happened to you was not your fault. The law now gives you a real opportunity to hold the right people accountable.

FAQs About Rhode Island Revival Window Cases for Referring Attorneys

What is the deadline for filing a claim under Rhode Island’s new revival window law?

The revival window created by H-7200A/S-2616A runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. Any previously time-barred civil claim against an institution or supervisor accused of enabling or covering up child sexual abuse must be filed before June 30, 2028. Claims not filed by that date may be permanently barred. There is no provision in the law for extending this deadline.

Can a survivor sue both the individual abuser and the institution during the revival window?

Yes. The revival window created by H-7200A/S-2616A specifically addresses claims against institutions and supervisors, which were the defendants left out of the 2019 Annie’s Law revival provision. Under the amended R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51, survivors may pursue claims against non-perpetrator defendants, such as a diocese or school administration, for conduct including negligent supervision, failure to report, and concealment of abuse. If a claim against an individual perpetrator was also previously expired, that claim may have been revivable under the earlier 2019 provision. Attorneys should evaluate both types of defendants in every case.

What types of institutions can be sued under the new Rhode Island law?

The law is not limited to religious organizations. Any institution or supervisor whose conduct caused or contributed to child sexual abuse through negligent hiring, supervision, training, monitoring, failure to report, or concealment of abuse can be a defendant. This includes Catholic dioceses, parishes, parochial schools, private and boarding schools, youth sports organizations, residential facilities, and any other setting where an institution owed a duty of care to a child. The Rhode Island Attorney General’s report specifically documented abuse patterns within the Diocese of Providence, but the law applies broadly.

How does Sommers Schwartz handle referral fees for Rhode Island revival window cases?

Sommers Schwartz handles referral arrangements in full compliance with the Rhode Island Rules of Professional Conduct, which govern fee sharing between attorneys. We discuss the specific structure of each referral or co-counsel arrangement directly with the referring attorney before any engagement begins. Transparency is central to how we work with outside counsel. We encourage referring attorneys to contact us directly to discuss the terms that make sense for their client’s situation and their firm’s involvement in the case.

What if a survivor is not sure whether their claim was previously time-barred?

Many survivors do not know whether their claim is time-barred, and that uncertainty should not stop them from reaching out. The statute of limitations analysis in Rhode Island child sexual abuse cases involves multiple variables, including the date of the abuse, the survivor’s age at the time, whether the claim involves a perpetrator or a non-perpetrator defendant, and when the survivor discovered the connection between their injuries and the abuse. Sommers Schwartz can evaluate these facts and determine whether the revival window applies. Survivors and referring attorneys alike should contact us for a confidential case review rather than assuming a claim is unavailable.

More Resources About Trust & Support

• How to Choose a Sexual Abuse Lawyer: The Four Questions
• For Family Members: Supporting a Survivor Who Is Considering a Claim
• Filing Anonymously: Jane Doe and John Doe Lawsuits in Rhode Island