NEW YORK
New York Times
By SHARON OTTERMAN
JAN. 5, 2015
An assistant principal at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx has been dismissed after admitting just before the Christmas break that he sexually abused 10 minors in the 1970s and 1980s, authorities from his religious order said on Monday.
The Rev. Robert Harrison, a Capuchin priest, taught religion and black history and was one of two assistant principals at the Roman Catholic school near Yankee Stadium, which counts luminaries like Regis Philbin and Martin Scorsese among its alumni and is known for its success in advancing students to college.
Father Harrison began working at the school in 1989 and was a considerable presence there, coaching basketball and moderating the speech club and Black Heritage Club. Last May, to honor the 50th anniversary of his and a former faculty member’s ordination, the school closed for the day.
The Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph, to which Father Harrison belongs, discovered the abuse on Dec. 22 after learning that Father Harrison was borrowing money from staff members at the high school, it said on Monday. When asked why, Father Harrison said he was paying an abuse victim, and then went on to acknowledge he had sexually abused 10 minors in Manhattan, the Bronx and in Milwaukee in the 1970s and 1980s, the province said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.