By Michael O'Keeffe
New York Daily News
February 28, 2010
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/high_school/2010/02/28/2010-02-28_doubts_about_former_christ_the_king_coach_bob_oliva_mount_as_longtime_friend_get.html
NEW YORK -- Ray Paprocky says he stood by Bob Oliva in the spring of 2008, in the weeks after a former player named Jimmy Carlino accused the legendary Christ the King boys basketball coach of sexually abusing him over the course of several years during the 1970s.
People sought out Paprocky's opinion because they knew he had been friendly with Oliva for more than two decades, and Paprocky says he told them the allegations were preposterous. Paprocky, Christ the King class of 1985, had played basketball for Oliva for three years. When he returned to New York after graduating from Florida Tech, Oliva hired him as an assistant coach and helped him land a teaching position at the Queens high school. Paprocky left in 1997 after seven years at the school, but he remained steadfastly loyal to Christ the King and Oliva, even after the ugly sexual abuse allegations emerged.
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| Ray Paprocky, longtime friend of Bob Oliva (below), accused of sexual abuse, is set to testify against former Christ the King coach. |
"I defended him," Paprocky says. "He was a mentor. I never thought of Bob Oliva as a pedophile."
That was before a Boston grand jury began reviewing evidence that Oliva allegedly molested Carlino during a trip to Massachusetts more than 30 years ago.
And it was before a longtime friend of Paprocky's visited the Manhattan saloon where Paprocky worked as a bartender. The friend said he was disappointed to hear that Paprocky was sticking up for Oliva.
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| Former coach Bob Oliva |
"I told him there was no proof. He said, 'I know it is true, because he molested me and I think he did it to Jimmy Carlino, too.' This is one of the most brutally honest guys I know. After that, when people sought out my opinion, I could no longer defend Bobby."
Paprocky, once Oliva's longtime friend, has now become one of the former coach's most vocal critics and a thorn in the side of his alma mater. Several former Oliva associates, including Carlino and the friend who told Paprocky that he had been abused by the ex-coach, appeared last week before the grand jury in Massachucetts reviewing Oliva for allegedly molesting Carlino. Paprocky says Suffolk County (Mass.) prosecutors have asked him to appear before the grand jury next week. If Oliva is indicted on sex abuse charges, Paprocky - his former player, assistant coach and friend - could be an important prosecution witness.
Paprocky expects to tell the grand jurors that Oliva acknowledged to him that he had a sexual relationship with his friend and promised to resign from the school. He also says he told Christ the King officials about the confession, but that they "they turned a deaf ear," Paprocky says.
Tom Ognibene, the former city councilman who serves on Christ the King's board of directors, said Paprocky is part of a scheme to discredit the Middle Village school, but Paprocky says he never intended to attack Christ the King. His goal, he says, was to get Oliva to resign because he didn't want other students and players to get hurt.
Oliva has vehemently denied the allegations that he sexually abused Carlino or anyone else. "Bob Oliva has not committed any crime in Massachusetts or in any other jurisdiction," his attorney, Michael Doolin, says. "He's a good man and I expect he will be acquitted of the charges."
Christ the King officials have already provided Suffolk County prosecutors with employment records for Oliva and assistant basketball coach Nick Sanchez, who told the Daily News that he doesn't know why the authorities want his files. Sanchez, who is friendly with Carlino, Paprocky's friend and a third man who has accused Oliva of sexual abuse, also says he has rejected prosecutors' request to appear before the grand jury.
"I told them no," says Sanchez, a Christ the King graduate. "I don't know anything about this. I'm friends with all those guys, but I can't help them. The only thing I know is that Bob Oliva never touched me."
Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, declined comment.
Paprocky says his friend - who confirmed Paprocky's account in an interview last week - was not interested in suing Oliva, or discussing the alleged abuse with law-enforcement officials. But he did tell Paprocky that Oliva should resign; he said he was afraid the coach who won five city championships during a 27-year career was still abusing other kids.
So when Oliva contacted Paprocky in September 2008 after learning from mutual friends that his one-time ally was now expressing doubts about the coach's innocence, Paprocky asked to meet with him at a diner in Bellerose, Queens. At that meeting, Paprocky says, Oliva admitted that he had a sexual relationship with his friend but said it was consensual and legal because the friend, a former Christ the King student and basketball player, was 17 years old at the time. Oliva is almost 30 years older than the alleged victim.
David Clohessy, the national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a group that supports victims of clergy abuse, said that he is not familiar with the details of the Oliva case, but while it may not be against the law for a coach to have sex with a 17-year-old, the relationship is still "inherently exploitive."
"There can never be a genuinely consensual relationship between a significantly older and more powerful adult and a student," Clohessy says. "Common sense tells us that is unhealthy."
Oliva agreed to resign from the school during their meeting at the diner, according to Paprocky, but he wanted a graceful exit strategy. He said he would tell Christ the King officials that he was suffering from a serious heart condition. Oliva even checked himself into South Nassau Hospital for tests.
Paprocky's friend was satisfied, but Oliva reneged on their deal shortly after his stay at the hospital. Oliva said he would stay on as Christ the King's basketball coach, according to Paprocky, knowing that the friend would not go public with the allegations. Paprocky then told Christ the King president Michael Michel and athletic director Joe Arbitello about Oliva's confession, but says the school officials responded with indifference.
"They couldn't have handled it in a more deplorable manner," Paprocky says.
Ognibene says Michel does not believe Paprocky is a credible witness and called the former assistant coach a "thief" who had his own inappropriate relationship with a former Christ the King student. "Michel has deep concerns about Paprocky," Ognibene says. "Mr. Paprocky has zero credibility."
Paprocky's alleged trangressions, however, are certainly much less serious than the accusations leveled against Oliva; Ognibene says the former Christ the King teacher made unauthorized long-distance calls on a school phone to a New England number. Paprocky reimbursed the school for the phone calls, Ognibene says. The calls were made to a former student. "There is the likelihood of a inappropriate relationship," Ognibene says. "If I had known about it at the time, he would have been fired."
Paprocky says Ognibene's accusations are laughable. He did use a school phone for long-distance calls, and he wrote a check to Christ the King when he was presented with a bill. The woman he was calling had graduated from Christ the King and was attending college when they started dating. He is six years older than the woman. They have been married for 12 years and have two children. "If this was all so bad, why didn't they fire me at the time?" Paprocky says. "If I was such a bad guy, why did I work there for several years afterwards? They are looking to intimidate me but I have nothing to hide. This is unbelievable."
Paprocky, who now works as medical supplies salesman, says he left Oliva's staff and Christ the King on good terms. He left in 1997 because he wanted to start a family, and he need to pursue other opportunities to make more money than he could at the high school. He says Ognibene and other Christ the King officials haven't learned a thing about the sex abuse scandal that has scarred the Catholic Church in recent years: They are more interested in attacking the messengers than protecting the victims.
"They should thank me," Paprocky says.
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