NEW YORK
The New York Times
By KIRK SEMPLE
NOV. 16, 2015
In 2009, Augusto Cortez, a Roman Catholic priest, pleaded guilty to forcible touching of a 12-year-old girl in Brooklyn. He was sentenced to six years of probation but was allowed to remain a member of his religious order.
Last year, a couple in Hampton Bays, on Long Island, who had known Mr. Cortez for years, accused him of molesting one of their daughters, now 8. He was interviewed by the Southampton Town Police and released, but he quickly vanished and became a fugitive, the authorities said.
On Monday, the Hampton Bays family sued Mr. Cortez’s Catholic order as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, where he had worked, alleging they had been “negligent, careless and reckless” in failing to properly train and supervise Mr. Cortez, 52, and to warn the family about his “propensity to sexually molest youth.”
The family’s lawyer, Michael Dowd, said in an interview: “To let this guy run around is crazy. It points to the fact that they’re still not taking this stuff seriously.”
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.