Second Man Comes Forward to Accuse Brooklyn Bishop of Sexual Abuse

SNAP
June 4, 2020

https://www.snapnetwork.org/second_man_comes_forward_accuse_brooklyn_bishop_jun20

A second man has come forward to accuse a prominent Brooklyn bishop of child sexual abuse. We applaud this survivor for coming forward and call on Cardinal Dolan to immediately remove the bishop from his position while the allegations are investigated.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was first accused of abuse in a lawsuit filed in November 2019, where it was alleged that he had abused a boy while he was a priest in Jersey City. This latest allegation is also related to DiMarzio’s time in New Jersey and alleges that Samier Tadros was abused at age 6 at Holy Rosary Church in Jersey City. We are grateful to Mr. Tadros for coming forward and potentially helping to protect others from abuse.

This latest lawsuit comes as Bishop DiMarzio is already under investigation by the Vatican, but we believe that the best information will come from an investigation by external, secular law enforcement officials. Currently, New York A.G. Letitia James is investigating cases of clergy abuse and we hope this latest news will bring more survivors forward to her office and draw investigator’s attention to the situation in Brooklyn.

Given Bishop DiMarzio’s high position in the church – and especially given the fact that he had been tapped by Vatican leaders to investigate other prelates accused of wrongdoing – we believe true transparency and accountability will come from secular officials in New York, not church leaders in Rome.

This is made even more plain by the fact that Cardinal Timothy Dolan has refused to remove DiMarzio from his position while the first allegation was being investigated. It was wrong for Cardinal Dolan to keep DiMarzio on staff with even one allegation made, but now that DiMarzio has been accused again we call on Cardinal Dolan to stop being passive and immediately suspend DiMarzio’s faculties and titles.

CONTACT: Brian Toale, SNAP New York (btoale@snapnetwork.org, 646-657-9278), Zach Hiner, Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)