Rhode Island State Police Arrests FormerBoy Scouts Assistant Chaplain for Allegedly Sexually Assaulting an 18-Year-Old Disabled Man

Lieutenant Colonel Kevin M. Barry, Acting Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Acting Director of the Department of Public Safety, announces the arrest of an Exeter resident for allegedly sexually assaulting a disabled 18-year-old male.

James Glawson, age 74, of 101 Widow Sweets Road, Exeter, is charged with:

• Three counts of first-degree sexual assault
• One count of second-degree sexual assault

Mr. Glawson was arraigned today in Fourth Division District Court and was ordered held without bail, pending further court action.

The arrest stemmed from an investigation by members of the Rhode Island State Police Detective Division into a complaint recently filed on behalf of an 18-year-old disabled man who allegedly had been sexually assaulted.

As a result of the investigation, detectives learned that Mr. Glawson has been affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America since 1980. From 2012 to 2018, he served as an assistant Catholic chaplain and Eucharistic minister with the Boy Scouts of America at the St. John Bosco Chapel at Yawgoog Scout Reservation, a summer camp in Hopkinton that is run by the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Mr. Glawson also is affiliated with St. Bernard Church in North Kingstown and the Immaculate Conception Church in Westerly.

Lt. Colonel Barry said this investigation is continuing, with the assistance of the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General. The Diocese of Providence and the Boy Scouts of America are cooperating with the investigation.

Anyone with additional information or complaints regarding this investigation is asked to call the Rhode Island State Police Detective Division at 401-764-5346.