STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance
April 26, 2019
By Joseph Ostapiuk
Advance research has confirmed that 15 deceased priests who have served on Staten Island are among the 120 bishops, priests and deacons found by the Archdiocese of New York to have been credibly accused of sex abuse.
The Advance has previously reported on prominent Island clergy who were brought before the Archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation program and found to have been credibly accused.
Through the process of cross-referencing in Advance archives, utilizing Archdiocese data, other media outlets and accessing databases of accused priests, the Advance confirmed that 16 of the deceased priests had served on Staten Island at some point in their career.
Fifteen of the 16 clergy who were credibly accused of abuse were never previously connected to a sex scandal, according to Advance archives.
Names on the list include archdiocesan bishops, priests and deacons who have been “credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor or possessing child pornography, or who were the subject of a claim made to the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) that was deemed eligible for compensation,” according to a statement by the Archdiocese.
The deceased clergy on this list had already died or left ministry when claims about them were made to the IRCP; however, the program’s independent administrators determined that claims against them were eligible for compensation, the Archdiocese said in the statement.
The compensatory program is not an adjudicatory body, and therefore is not required to adhere to the same standards as a court of law, the statement explained.
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