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	Jury Likely to Decide Long Island Church Sex Abuse Suit Most Cases Are Settled out of Court Associated Press, carried in Washington Post April 16, 2007 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/16/AR2007041601554.html?hpid=sec-religion Mineola, N.Y. (AP) — The nation's sixth-largest Roman Catholic diocese went on trial Monday in a $150 million lawsuit accusing church officials of recklessness for employing a youth minister who raped and sodomized teenagers. In his opening arguments, attorney Michael Dowd told jurors the focus of the trial was not Matthew Maiello, a priest who pleaded guilty to rape and sodomy in 2003, but his superiors. "The question here is who let the beast loose? Who let him loose to run free through the flock of Rev. Thomas Haggerty, picking his victims at will?" Dowd said. Despite its familiar scenario of youths abused by religious leaders, this case is unique: It could be one of the few decided by a jury, rather than a quiet, out-of-court settlement. Dowd represents a man and a woman who claimed Maiello repeatedly abused them starting when they were 15 years old, and that church officials failed to act when confronted by reports that the youth minister was acting inappropriately. The lawsuit seeks $150 million in damages. Dowd's clients have not been identified by The Associated Press because they are victims of sex crimes. Maiello, who served more than two years in prison, is named as a defendant. But his attorney, Lawrence Carra, said last week that his client would not contest the allegations in the lawsuit and would abide by any verdict. The real focus is St. Raphael's Church in East Meadow, its pastor, the Rev. Thomas Haggerty, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. "This is a case about responsibility," Dowd said, insisting that neither Haggerty nor anyone from the diocese performed background checks on Maiello before he was hired. Attorney Brian Davey, who is representing the diocese, St. Raphael's and Haggerty, said in his opening statements that blame for the sex attacks rests with Maiello, not the church leadership. "Father Tom is not responsible for what Matthew Maiello did," Davey said. Haggerty was never specifically told, nor given any evidence, that Maiello was abusing teenagers, he said. Dowd called Haggerty as his first witness, and grilled the minister whether he had a background check conducted on Maiello when he hired him as youth minister in 1998. Haggerty said he did not. The U.S. Conference of Bishops estimates abuse-related costs from lawsuits have exceeded $1.5 billion, the majority out-of-court settlements. Many of the alleged acts took place long before statutes of limitations expired. A Suffolk County grand jury report in early 2003 cited abuse cases involving 23 priests in the Rockville Centre diocese over several decades. The allegations included altar boys being groped and sodomized during church trips, overnights at priests' homes, and many other instances when children were left alone with their abusers. Testimony in the trial was expected to last several weeks.
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