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	Deliberations in Long Island Catholic Church Sex Abuse Lawsuit Associated Press, carried in The Newsday May 9, 2007 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny— churchabuselawsui0509may09,0,4962563.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork Mineola, N.Y. — Jurors appeared to be far from a verdict Wednesday in a rare civil trial that accuses the nation's sixth-largest Roman Catholic diocese, one of its churches and a parish pastor of negligence in the hiring and supervision of a paid youth minister who later admitted repeatedly raping and sodomizing teenagers in his care. "No way," one of the jurors told state Supreme Court Justice R. Bruce Cozzens when they were asked whether they appeared close to a verdict. In the civil lawsuit, five of six jurors must decide whether the defendants were negligent before determining possible damages. The case involves one of the rare lawsuits since the national church sex abuse scandal broke five years ago to actually be heard in a courtroom. Because statutes of limitations expired on many of the abuse cases years ago, lawsuits have frequently been settled out of court. The case centers on former youth minister Matthew Maiello, who pleaded guilty to third-degree rape and sodomy in 2003 and served more than two years in prison. Maiello did not contest any of the allegations against him, and the real focus of the monthlong trial was St. Raphael's Church in East Meadow, its pastor, the Rev. Thomas Haggerty, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The victims _ a man and a woman now 23 _ said that as teenagers they were molested by Maiello for several years. Maiello repeatedly had sex on church grounds and elsewhere, first with the teenage girl. Later, Maiello brought the teenage boy into the scenario; he testified that all three engaged in sex numerous times, sometimes under the influence of marijuana or alcohol. The plaintiffs also claim church officials failed to properly screen Maiello before he was hired for the $20,000-a-year position as youth minister and failed to act when confronted by reports that the youth minister was behaving inappropriately. Brian Davey, a defense attorney representing the pastor, the parish and the diocese, insisted Maiello alone was responsible for the sexual abuse. "Matthew Maiello is a degenerate, is a deviant," Davey said during closing arguments. "He is 100 percent responsible." Jurors will resume deliberations on Monday.
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