Moments after the window for the state Child Victims Act opened, lawsuits across New York poured into the courts including ones filed against several North Shore institutions.
Under the legislation, child abuse victims whose cases are barred by the statute of limitations can file a lawsuit over the next year, regardless of when the incident occurred.
Jeff Anderson & Associates, a New York City-based law firm, is filing 19 lawsuits within the Diocese of Rockville Center.
Institutions implicated include Chaminade High School in Mineola, Our Lady of Fatima in Manorhaven, St. Mary’s in Manhasset and St. Ignatius Retreat House in Manhasset.
Of the clergy identified by the firm is Brother James C. Williams, the former president of Chaminade High School; the Rev. Joseph Fitzpatrick who formerly presided at St. Mary’s in Manhasset; the Rev. John Mahoney who briefly served at North Shore Hospital in Manhasset and the Rev. Kenneth Nee who previously served at both St. Mary in Roslyn and Our Lady of Fatima in Manorhaven.
Other accused perpetrators on Long Island revealed by Jeff Anderson & Associates include the Rev. Edward R. D’Andrea, Sister Maureen Gregory, Brother Harold Harvers, Deacon William Mahoney, the Rev. John Halpin, the Rev. John Murphy, the Rev. Robert Saccacio and the Rev. Alfred Soave.
The Marsh Law Firm of White Plains and Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala in Seattle, Washington have also been filing lawsuits across the state have also filed suits against the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
A statement from the Rev. John O. Barres, bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said: “Our Church continues to suffer as a result of past sins of sexual abuse of minors. Victim survivors of abuse and their families also continue to carry the terrible effects of that abuse.”
State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck), who co-sponsored the legislation signed into law in February, encourages victims of sexual abuse to seek justice.
“With this law now in effect and the ‘lookback window’ now open for one year,” she said, “I urge all survivors to consider taking action so that these abusers can be brought to justice, and so that survivors can hopefully find some closure.”
Identified lawsuits across Long Island filed by Jeff Anderson & Associates, the Marsh Law Firm and Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala are Good Shepherd Parish and Church in Holbrook, Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, St. Andrews Parish and Elementary School in Sag Harbor, St. Barnabas Parish and Church in Bellmore, St. Hyacinth Parish and All Saints Regional Catholic School in Glen Head, St. Josephs Parish and Church in Babylon, St. Lawrence Parochial School in Sayville, St. Patrick’s Parish and School in Bay Shore and St. Philip and St. James Church in St. James, Camp Alvernia in Centerport, Holy Family School in Hicksville, St. Agnes Cathedral High School in Rockville Centre, St. Hugh’s in Huntington Station, St. Ignatius Loyola in Hicksville, St. John of God in Central Islip, St. John’s Hospital in Smithtown and St. Rosalie’s in Hampton Bays.
The first lawsuits filed Wednesday morning, just after midnight, were against the Catholic Church of New York City, Rockefeller University and the Boy Scouts of America.
