ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
New York Newsday
BY EDEN LAIKIN
STAFF WRITER
January 12, 2006
Five siblings have started a $25-million lawsuit against the Diocese of Rockville Centre and Bishop William Murphy, alleging that a Long Island priest abused them repeatedly when they were children.
A summons filed Tuesday in State Supreme Court in Mineola says the Rev. Daniel Babis, who died in 1978, abused Richard Regan, his sister JoAnn and three unnamed siblings.
"Filing the suit is a way of getting the attention of the church and to help other victims of Babis come forward," said Richard Regan, 62, of Penn Yan, N.Y., near Rochester.
JoAnn Regan, of Hamburg, Germany, said she felt she had "no choice" but to join the lawsuit.
"I want them to be punished," she said of the diocese.
Sean Dolan, a diocese spokesman, declined to comment on pending litigation.