BishopAccountability.org
	Church Sex Abuse Cases Continue in Brooklyn By Ryan Thompson Brooklyn Daily Eagle June 6, 2008 http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=4&id=21029 JAY STREET – A 72-year-old pastor from the Original Church of God of Prophecy was convicted yesterday of sodomizing and sexually molesting a little girl on numerous occasions. Dieuvais Surin was convicted on all 22 counts of sexual abuse that he faced. He began with taking the little girl into his van, where he fondled her in 1998. On subsequent occasions, he made her perform oral sex and various other perverted acts on him. These incidents occurred in the pastor's van and apartment, and in the basement of the church. Surin often waited outside the little girl's middle school in Brooklyn, and on eight occasions, he then took her into his van and sodomized her. The pedophile pastor faces up to 56 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 9 by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a Catholic priest was charged with similar crimes in Brooklyn — though far less serious. Father Augusto Cortez, a 44-year-old priest who worked at St. John the Baptist School in Bushwick, was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl. The priest is accused of touching the young girl's breasts last week. If convicted on the charges of sex abuse, forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child, Cortez faces a maximum of one year in jail. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn alerted authorities immediately. Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes thanked the diocese for quick action in alerting his office of the allegations, in accordance with the protocols of the Memorandum of Understanding, which was drafted between the two in 2002. According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Brooklyn DA and the Brooklyn Diocese, the Diocese will notify the Kings County District Attorney's Office whenever church officials are accused of sexual misconduct, and the district attorney agrees to keep the investigation confidential until if and when formal charges are brought. Since the drafting of the memorandum, sex-crime charges have been brought against five priests. Contact: court@brooklyneagle.net
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