New Report Details Abuse In Diocese Of Rockville Centre

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
The Rockville Centre Patch

February 5, 2018

By Alex Costello

The report examines all allegations of abuse made against priests who served in LI churches and whether the complaints are credible.

A report released on Monday by a group of attorneys seeks to compile all of the allegations of sexual abuse made against priests in the Diocese of Rockville Centre into one place so residents can more easily find out if priests in their parishes have had abuse allegations made against them, and if those allegations were credible.

The report, titled “Hidden Disgrace II,” was compiled by the attorney group Lawyers Helping Survivors of Child Sex Abuse. It is a group of attorneys made up of lawyers from the firms of Weitz & Luxenberg P.C; James, Vernon & Weeks, P.A.; and Noaker Law Firm LLC, to help victims of child sexual assault.

The organization said that, while all of the info in its report had been publicly available, it was spread across several sources and not in any format that was easy for people to find and search, and it was not available from the diocese.

“The public needs more information about these alleged predators and the churches, schools and communities where they worked,” said attorney Jerry Kristal, of Weitz & Luxenberg. “The Rockville Centre Diocese’s silence on the issue has only served the accused abusers and left survivors and local communities in the dark. Hidden Disgrace II seeks to bring more attention to the important issue of clergy sex abuse on Long Island to help survivors heal and hold the Church accountable.”

The report includes information on 51 priests and others who worked in churches across Long Island who were accused of sexual abuse. The priests worked at more than 100 churches over the decades. However, the report notes that most of the allegations it includes were never tried in court because they were reported after the statute of limitations expired, and therefor should not be considered substantiated unless indicated otherwise.

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