Sports coach, Scarsdale Catholic school named in child sex abuse suit

By Frank Esposito
Rockland/Westchester Journal News
November 19, 2019

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan says he is pleased with the findings of report that the archdiocese has been on the right track with reporting child abuse, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019. Photo by Frank Esposito

A former youth sports coach is accused of molesting a student at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Scarsdale in a Child Victims Act case filed earlier this month. 

Edwin Gaynor, of Ossining, was accused of fondling David Fox and possibly others during gym class during the early 1960s, according to a case filed in Westchester County civil court. 

The suit also accuses that the Archdiocese of New York knew about the abuse and instead of dealing with the issue, moved Gaynor to other schools. No other schools are mentioned in the lawsuit.

The moving of Gaynor from facility to facility was consistent with a practice called "move the trash," said plaintiff attorney Barbra Hart of White Plains-based Lowey Dannenberg in the lawsuit.

This latest lawsuit is one of more than 1,000 cases filed under the New York Child Victims Act, a law which allows people to sue for abuse regardless of the statute of limitations.

Fox, who now lives in Los Angeles, claims to have been abused between 8 and 11 years old.

Gaynor is accused of pulling Fox out of dodge ball games and forcing Fox to sit on his lap in order to molest him, according to the suit. 

On other occasions, if Fox forgot his gym clothes, Gaynor would also force the boy to sit on his lap and molested him in the bleachers, according to the suit.

After being molested so many times, Fox began skipping gym class if he forgot his gym clothes, according to the suit.

Gaynor also took Fox to his home, the location of which was not spelled out in court documents, and abused him there, claims the court filing.

In the lawsuit, it said Fox told his mother about the abuse in the apartment, and she told him to tell clergy at the school about abuse. But when Fox attempted to tell the Monsignor in charge of the school, the Monsignor called him a liar and threw Fox out of his office, according to the lawsuit.

After Fox told another priest about the abuse, Gaynor found out and wrote him a letter and apologized for the abuse, the suit further stated.

"This tragic experience has left our client haunted by his past," said Hart.

Fox might not have been the only victim, according to details in the suit.

During basketball games, the boys would split into two teams, one wearing shirts against the others without shirts, called "skins." Gaynor would choose the same "favorite" boys; Fox was always on the skins, according to the suit. 

The suit alleges that Fox saw other boys on Gaynor's lap during gym class as well.

The Archdiocese and Immaculate Heart of Mary declined to comment on the case.