BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese Suit By Hector Flores and Judy Rattner The Herald [Long Island] May 24, 2007 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18383656&BRD=1601&PAG=461&dept_id=479859&rfi=6 A Nassau County jury has awarded $11.45 million to a man and woman who were teenagers when they were molested over the course of three years by a youth minister at St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church in East Meadow , beginning in 1999. Despite the verdict, an attorney for the victims and an advocates' group say the Diocese of Rockville Centre, which oversees St. Raphael's, has not yet accepted full responsibility. On May 18, the jury ruled that the diocese, St. Raphael's and its priest, the Rev. Thomas Haggerty, acted with reckless disregard for the safety of others by failing to protect children from their youth minister, Matthew Maiello. Maiello, then of Lynbrook, pleaded guilty in 2003 to rape and sodomy of the two plaintiffs, who were 15 when the assaults began, and he was sentenced to prison for over two years. At the time of Maiello's sentencing, his victims filed a $150 million suit against Maiello; his supervisor, Haggerty; the church and the diocese. After last week's ruling, Sean Dolan, the diocesean spokesman, said there would be no appeal. "We, the diocese, humbly accept the verdict handed down by the jury," he said. "The important thing to do is to bring closure and healing to the victims, parish and diocese. To appeal the ruling would only open up the wounds and cause more grief, and we don't want to do that." Attorney Michael Dowd of Manhattan, who represented the victims, said he is glad the diocese will not appeal the decision, but added that it has yet to apologize to the victims. "I think the diocese must still accept responsibility," Dowd said. "They still haven't, and my clients also have the same opinion." Peggy O'Neill, of Long Island Voice of the Faithful, an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic church, agreed with Dowd. "The decision not to appeal the verdict is a step toward healing," O'Neill said, "but no healing can really occur until the church, meaning the hierarchy, the bishop, owns up to what they've done wrong and apologizes specifically to the survivors of sexual abuse, of which there are many." In response to Dowd's and O'Neill's statements, Dolan conceded that Maiello caused a great deal of hurt. "He was the one who caused these acts, and I think that he is the real culprit in all of this," Dolan said. "These were terrible acts that began in church property, and we want to make sure that church property remains a safe haven for young people, and we must make sure that this will not happen again." The trial The civil trial was heard by State Supreme Court Justice R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. in Mineola. During the trial, Dowd said Haggerty failed the victims by neglecting to do a background check on Maiello. If he had, Dowd maintained, Haggerty would have discovered that Maiello had failed his Molloy College Bible class. Dowd added that after he was hired, Maiello was allowed to take students into his office in the church's basement without supervision. There, Dowd said, Maiello videotaped them having sex with him and each other. Brian Davey, a lawyer for the diocese, said Haggerty was a victim of Maiello's lies. On the witness stand, Haggerty said he would not have hired Maiello if he had known about his poor grades. Comments about this story? RVCeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
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