Sexual Abuse Lawyer: ‘it’s Not Too Late to Come Forward’

WROC-TV, Ch. 8
March 3, 2020

https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/sexual-abuse-lawyer-its-not-too-late-to-come-forward/

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A call to victims of sexual abuse Tuesday in Rochester, from a lawyer who says “It’s not too late to come forward.”

Attorneys announced two new legal claims against several churches in our area.

A priest who worked for the Diocese of Rochester in the 1980s was named in legal claims, as were the churches where he presided.

Father Joseph Larabee, who worked at Saint John the Evangelist in Greece, and Church of Good Shepherd in Henrietta, was named in the latest sexual abuse case filed under the Child Victims Act.

Since the alleged incidents took place, one of the churches has been converted into a school. Still, attorney Mitchell Garabedian says he hopes to see this go to trial.

“Some supervisor must have known that Father Larabee was hanging around the Avon public school system, driving underage students around to point out prostitutes, having sleepovers at the rectory, taking them to tours of his apartment in Greece, New York,” Garabedian said.

Attorneys are asking for what they call the church’s “secret files,” which they say are being withheld.