By Terence Corcoran and Amisha Padnani
The Journal News
October 31, 2007
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/NEWS03/710310396/1018/NEWS02
GARNERVILLE - One of the most important things Elizabeth Luisi learned from the Rev. Gary Mead was that it is OK to be Catholic.
"It was so nice to talk about God and about spirituality with someone of a similar age," said Luisi, a 39-year-old Stony Point resident who knew Mead as a priest at St. Gregory Barbarigo parish.
"It made me feel like being Catholic was still hip," she said.
So when Luisi learned that Mead, 44, was among 20 men charged during a sex-sting operation this month at a rest stop on Interstate 684 in Bedford, she was shocked and saddened. Police said he fondled an undercover officer and has been charged with forcible touching.
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| Cara Rogers of Suffern said: "It's a shame. I feel sorry for them." Thomas Ford of Garnerville says he feels bad about the rest-stop sex sting this month that involved the Rev. Gary Mead of St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic Church in Garnerville. Photo by Kathy Gardner |
Most of the charges from the monthlong investigation involved loitering or trespassing, state police said. Others who were charged include the Katonah Rotary Club president and a 72-year-old man.
Still, Luisi's opinion of the priest whom she opened up to at confession, who baptized her daughter just months ago and who has been a part of her daily life for years, has not wavered.
"He's a wonderful man," she said. "He's a very genuine man that believes in God and believes our God is forgiving."
Mead, a Millwood native, has been at the parish for several years. Before that, he was assigned to St. Mary's Church in Wappingers Falls and, in the late 1990s, was a parochial vicar at Holy Family parish in New Rochelle.
Joe Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said he did not know how the situation would be handled or whether Mead would continue at the parish.
"We are still waiting to see how this will play out," he said. "We can't jump to any conclusions. We'll want to sit down with him and speak to him about it first ... then decide what course of action would be appropriate."
Zwilling added that the archdiocese was planning to offer counseling at the parish and the neighboring elementary school today.
John Kelly, a deacon at St. Gregory's who answered the door at the rectory office yesterday afternoon, declined to talk about Mead.
"Everything is under police investigation," he said. "I cannot comment."
Friends, neighbors and parishioners of St. Gregory's, however, described Mead as a kind man who went out of his way to listen to and help people in his community.
Richard Eggers of Garnerville, a longtime parishioner, said generations within his family have interacted with Mead.
"He's been very kind with me and my family and my kids and my grandkids," he said. "I'm completely stunned by this whole thing. ... But our Christian philosophy and upbringing is seeking forgiveness and healing."
Mead's arrest was not the first time a priest from St. Gregory's faced allegations of sexual misconduct.
In 1994, the archdiocese reached settlements with three Rockland County men who were abused during the early 1980s by Joseph Theisen, a former priest at St. Gregory's who was defrocked. Each man received $20,000 and promised not to talk publicly about what happened to them.
Meanwhile, the president of the Katonah Rotary Club, another suspect in the sting, has stepped aside as leader of the civic organization.
John Canzio of Bedford Hills, 47, is charged with exposure, loitering and trespass, all violations.
John Cannell, district governor for the Rotary in New York City and Westchester County, said he had spoken to Canzio, who agreed to step aside until his case was adjudicated.
"We certainly believe his innocence will be proven in court," Cannell said yesterday. "Rotary is a wonderful organization, helping people all over the world."
Police said someone had drilled a hole in a men's room stall at the rest area to spy on other men as they used the urinals.
The hole is being repaired and, police warned yesterday, the men who meet other men for anonymous sex there should be on guard.
"We're definitely planning another couple of undercover details," said Capt. Robert Meyers, the state police commander in Westchester. "We've increased our nightly patrols, and we're trying to get the message out that this is not the place for anyone -male or female - to come for public sex."
Meyers said police were talking with state transportation officials about installing motion-sensor lights and surveillance cameras at the rest stop.
The undercover operation began after a father who was taking his 10-year-old son to a Yankees game stopped to use the bathroom and wrote a letter to police, complaining of what they saw there, Meyers said.
"We simply will not tolerate this type of behavior," the captain said.
Except for Mead, all of the suspects are married, police said. All 20 are due in Bedford Town Court tomorrow.
Reach Terence Corcoran at: tcorcora@lohud.com
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