NEW YORK
New York Daily News
BY Denis Slattery
A support group for victims of sexual abuse blasted a Bronx school and the Catholic church for waiting to inform the public about a pedophile priest who came forward weeks ago.
Officials from Cardinal Hayes High School informed parents Monday that Father Robert Harrison, a Franciscan priest who had been at the school since 1989, admitted to sexually abusing minors in the 1970s and 1980s and was fired on Dec. 22.
“We suspect obviously selfish reasons for the two irresponsible weeks of secrecy,” said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivor Network of Those Abused by Priests. “We suspect Catholic officials didn’t want to risk hurting holiday donations.”
Harrison taught religion and coached JV basketball during his 26 years at the Grand Concourse school for boys.
“(T)hus far, it does not appear that any of the abuse involved students from Cardinal Hayes,” the school’s president, Father Joseph Tierney, said in a letter to parents on Monday.
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