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  Albany - Former District Attorney Sol Greenberg Once Told a Priest Accused of Molesting Two Boys to Leave the Area Forever or Face Charges, According to Published Reports

The Troy Record [Albany NY]
Downloaded February 15, 2003

The Journal News, in the Nov. 20 edition, quoted the former Albany County district attorney as saying: "It was a matter of keeping it quiet. At that time, it was the attitude about these things. Today, we would have gotten those kids in front of a grand jury."

Greenberg told the Journal News that the boys' parents and the diocese did not want to prosecute.

He did not return phone calls Friday night for further comment.

According to a complaint filed by a now 42-year-old man who is alleging years of sexual abuse by Dozia Wilson, then Bishop Edwin Broderick told the victim that Greenberg agreed not to prosecute Wilson if he was transferred out of the parish.

The complaint regarding Wilson stems from the alleged abuse of a then 15-year-old boy in the Boston Diocese, where he went after being ousted from Albany by Greenberg and Broderick in 1976.

According to the complaint, Wilson was ordained a priest in the Albany Diocese in 1972 and was pastor of Sacred Heart Church when he met the boy there the following year. The complaint alleges that Wilson began giving the boy alcohol and marijuana in 1973.

In the summer of 1976, Wilson took the boy and his younger brother along when he transferred to St. Joseph's Church in Roxbury, Mass. The boy claims that Wilson began sexually molesting him that summer and that the abuse continued until he graduated from high school two years later and moved out of the rectory.

According to a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, Wilson resigned, at the request of Bishop Howard Hubbard 10 years ago.

After his initial banishment in 1976, Wilson came back to the diocese in 1980, after serving three years in the Boston area and three months at a Rochester parish. Law enforcement officials, according to a statement by Hubbard's office, consented to his return.

In 1990, Hubbard received a call from the Hudson area, expressing unease about Wilson's interaction with minors. There were no specific allegations of sexual misconduct. But given the 1976 incident, Hubbard removed him from his post as associate pastor at St., Mary's in Hudson.

In 1991, after completing a lengthy stay at an alcohol rehabilitation center, Hubbard did not reassign him to any ministry. Wilson officially resigned two years later.

Locally, Wilson worked at Sacred Heart from 1972-1976; as an associate pastor of St. Ann's in Fort Ann from 1980 to 1981; and as an associate pastor at St. Mary's in Hudson and part-time chaplain at Columbia County Jail and Columbia-Greene Community College from 1981-1990.

Meanwhile, in Judge Joseph Teresi's courtroom, Friday, Attorney John Aretakis, who represents some two dozen alleged victims of sex abuse by priests, withdrew a count in one of his three pending lawsuits.

Aretakis was going to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, regarding a phone call Rev. John Bertolucci made to the parents of one of his victims. There are still charges of negligence and invasion of privacy pending as well as others.

On Sept. 11, Bertolucci allegedly called the parents of the victim, who is now working for the State Police and told them he was proud of the way their son fought off his sexual advances.

"Based upon conversations with my client, we voluntarily withdrew the RICO claim at this point," Aretakis said.

RICO is a federal statute established primarily to make collusion and conspiracy among gangsters illegal. Although Teresi accepted the withdrawal with prejudice, which means Aretakis cannot bring it again in state court, he is likely to bring more RICO actions at the federal level.

Teresi also said his "strict warning" earlier this week was not a gag order, but he only cautioned attorneys to abide by already accepted codes of conduct established to not prejudice a jury.

 
 

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