By Abigail Bleck
WNYT
September 2, 2008
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S564714.shtml?cat=300
AMSTERDAM - A Montgomery County grand jury indicted a Catholic priest on charges he sexually abused three local children.
The abuse is said to have occurred in the small Montgomery County town of Palatine.
But the Rev. John W. Broderick most recently worked for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, not the Albany Diocese.
Broderick faces three counts of sexual conduct with a child younger than 11 years old.
The indictment indicates three separate victims and that the alleged abused occurred between 2005 and 2007. The court papers also state Broderick provided alcohol to the underage children.
At the time of his February arrest, state police characterized Broderick as a spiritual advisor to the family of the boys he's now accused of abusing.
The Montgomery County district attorney is handling the criminal prosecution and attorney John Aretakis claims he's representing the family in a civil suit.
 |
"A lot of times I'm criticized because the claims are 20 to 30 years old. Well, this claim is not. This abuse happened in 2007," Aretakis said.
The Syracuse Diocese suspended Broderick without pay weeks before his arrest. A spokeswoman for that diocese said Tuesday the suspension was not related to the sex charges and adds that Broderick had been unassigned -- meaning he wasn't working at a church -- for the past four years.
Albany Diocese spokesman Ken Goldfarb says they only learned about the arrest of the Syracuse-based priest through media reports and that the Montgomery County family hasn't contacted them either.
"The family never came to us with a complaint. We don't even know who they are. Certainly we'd assist them if they did," Goldfarb said.
Aretakis claims there are two additional victims - one too afraid to testify and another whose grand jury testimony didn't lead to an indictment.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.