Former Boy Scout leader accused of sexually assaulting Scout members

Attorney General Peter Neronha and Colonel Darnell Weaver has announced that the Providence County Grand Jury has returned an indictment charging a former local Boy Scout leader with sexually assaulting a juvenile male victim between 1982 and 1984 in Central Falls.

On August 25, 2023, the Providence County Grand Jury returned a secret indictment charging 61-year-old Michael Chalk of Pawtucket, with two counts of first-degree sexual assault.

That same day, the secret indictment was unsealed, and Chalk was arraigned in Providence County Superior Court.

As alleged in the indictment, the charges against Chalk stem from assaults that took place in Central Falls between 1982 and 1984 against a male victim who was 13 years of age or younger.

In court, the State alleged that at the time of the assault, Chalk was an adult leader in a local Boy Scout troop in Central Falls, and the victim was a youth member of the local troop. It was further alleged that the assaults took place at St. Matthew’s Church, where the Boy Scout troop held their meetings.

In 1999, Chalk was tried and convicted of several counts of first-degree child molestation and sexual assault against three minor male victims and sentenced to serve 20 years at the ACI followed by a 20-year suspended sentence. The victims were also members of the Boy Scouts.

Chalk is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on October 26, 2023, in Providence County Superior Court.

Corporal Kyle Draper of the Rhode Island State Police and Special Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Burke of the Office of the Attorney General are leading the investigation and prosecution of the case.