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	Lawyer Suspended a Year By Steve Virkler Watertown Daily Times February 8, 2009 http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090208/NEWS05/302089927 A New York City attorney representing alleged sexual abuse victims of a Roman Catholic priest with ties to Massena has been suspended from practicing law for one year. "I've always contended that I've been selectively targeted," John A. Aretakis said Saturday, suggesting his handling of numerous cases against Catholic priests likely contributed to the action. Mr. Aretakis was initially suspended in December by the Committee on Professional Standards, but appealed. The state Court of Appeals denied his appeal on Jan. 22. Mr. Aretakis said he will still serve as spokesman for the family of the alleged victims of the Rev. John W. Broderick, albeit in an unofficial capacity. "I'll be at the trial Monday," Mr. Aretakis said. "They're victims of crime. I just speak for them." The priest, whose last known address was Nicholville, is set to go to trial Monday in Montgomery County Court on three felony counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. He is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with three children, ranging in age from 5 to 11, over several months in 2007. The priest was involved with the Dominican Sisters, a Catholic group not recognized by the Vatican, which runs the Holy Name of Jesus Academy in Massena. He worked there from mid-2007 until his arrest in late February 2008 at the school. No complaints were filed against him in Massena. According to the Committee on Professional Standards report, Mr. Aretakis "repeatedly crossed the line separating zealous advocacy from professional misconduct." The attorney was found in contempt of court in 2005 after making "reckless and unsubstantiated charges" that a Rensselaer County judge had committed federal mail fraud and participated in a conspiracy to predetermine cases and tamper with files, the report states. It also cites 2007 complaints by three other judges about Mr. Aretakis's unprofessional conduct, including suggestions that he had a personal vendetta against the Catholic Church and that he had filed a "completely baseless" defamation suit. Mr. Aretakis suggested that most suspended attorneys have done more egregious things, like stealing from a client or getting arrested. "It's extremely rare that you get slapped for this," he said. Mr. Aretakis in September 2005 alerted local media outlets that Patrick D. Cascanet had been living in Watertown while out on bail before pleading guilty to abusing four boys in Schoharie County. Cascanet, a former peace officer and Schoharie County Social Services investigator, in 2006 pleaded guilty in Jefferson County Court to first-degree sexual abuse for having sexual contact with a 7-year-old boy in Watertown during that period.
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