The Catholic order that runs Chaminade High School on Friday suspended its former president from serving as a priest after finding allegations that he sexually abused a former student were “credible.”
Current President Brother Thomas Cleary said Sunday that the prestigious Mineola parochial school did not learn about alleged abuse in 2011 by his predecessor, Father James Williams, until last February.
“I want to assure each and every one of you that we have made a solemn pledge to ensure that the young men entrusted to our care are safeguarded from any form of harm or abuse,” Cleary wrote in a letter to parents posted to Chaminade’s website. “We take most seriously the sacred bond that exists between us as educators, you as parents, and our students as your sons and sons of God.”
Cleary’s letter followed a statement Friday from the Meribah Province of the Marianist Order that it suspended Williams nearly 15 months after a “vigorous, thorough and comprehensive investigation” started in February 2015, when the first Diocese of Rockville Centre reported the allegations to the province and the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
“It is important to note that Father James has completely denied the allegations,” the Meribah Province said in its statement.
Cleary said Chaminade learned one of the alleged incidents of abuse dated back to 2011, when the victim, a former Chaminade student, was a minor.
That contradicts a statement from DA’s office spokesman Brendan Brosh saying he was a legal adult older than 18 at the time of the alleged abuse.
Cleary deferred additional questions to his letter and the province’s statement.
The province said it will “as required,” submit Williams’ case to the Holy See, the Catholic pope’s jurisdiction.
Williams was a Chaminade teacher and administrator from 1991 until 2012, the province’s statement says. Cleary replaced him as president in August 2011, the same year as the alleged abuse. Williams remained a teacher and chaplain until 2012.
The Meribah Province launched its investigation after learning about the abuse allegations from the diocese “with the assistance of professionals who specialize in this area and with the help of our lay review board,” the province’s statement said.
The investigation started under the province’s policies, which are consistent with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, it said in the statement.
“It was during the course of this investigation that we first learned that one of the alleged incidents dated back to 2011, when the individual involved was a minor,” Cleary wrote.
The DA’s office started its own investigation Feb. 25 after receiving a letter dated Feb. 24 from an attorney for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Brosh said. Williams was believed to be living in Rome at that time, he said.
A newsletter dated Sept. 15 from the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Brookville says Williams was headed to Rome to pursue a doctorate at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Brosh said the victim was an adult at the time of the alleged misdemeanor sexual abuse in 2011, but did not want to press charges against Williams and requested anonymity. The two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors had already expired in 2013, Brosh said.
On May 3 of this year, the DA’s office got a letter from an attorney for Chaminade identical to the one the diocese sent in February 2015, Brosh said.
When investigators contacted the alleged victim again after receiving that letter, he “reiterated that he did not wish to pursue charges and wanted to remain anonymous,” Brosh said.
The Meribah Province did not answer two phone calls seeking additional comment. Diocese of Rockville Center spokesman Sean Dolan did not answer one call seeking comment.
Founded in Mineola in 1930, Chaminade is one of the nation’s most prestigious private Catholic boys schools.
Notable alumni include former Nassau County Executive and current congressional candidate Tom Suozzi, former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and political commentator Bill O’Reilly. Tax filings show the school’s development fund had nearly $49 million in total assets as of 2013.
Chaminade is one of three Long Island schools the Mineola-based Meribah Province of the Marianist Order oversees, along with Kellenberg Memorial High School and St. Martin de Porres Marianist School for kindergarten through eighth grade, both in Uniondale.
