SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (RNS) Catholic officials rebuffed calls from a victims group to control the movements of retired Bishop Thomas L. Dupre, who fled to a Maryland treatment center after being confronted with abuse allegations in 2004.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) on Tuesday (May 25) announced that Dupre was no longer living at the St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Md., and had moved to a Catholic retirement home in Washington.

The group said allowing Dupre unsupervised living conditions was tantamount to letting a “serial predator” move about unfettered.

“We’re concerned and we’d like him to be returned to a more secure facility,” said SNAP member William Nash.

In response, Mark E. Dupont, a spokesman for the Diocese of Springfield, said, “I’d like to know what U.S. law there is that allows the Catholic church to imprison people.”

Current Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell has said Dupre is “fully retired” and no longer in public ministry. However, it is unclear whether that transition was voluntary.

A call to the retirement home went unreturned. Dupre’s lawyer, Michael O. Jennings, declined comment.

Dupre abruptly retired and essentially disappeared after being confronted by The Republican newspaper with molestation accusations in 2004. He was indicted on rape charges the same year by a grand jury, but avoided prosecution because the statute of limitations had expired.

Dupre was accused of molesting two young boys when he was a parish priest in the 1970s. He has since reached out-of-court settlements with both men.

Dupont said “revisiting this painful chapter in our history, may be important to some, but in a practical sense does little to prevent future abuse …”