By Diana Perez
NBC Connecticut
July 9, 2010
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local-beat/Church-Suspends-Priest-Accused-of-Sex-Abuse-98143209.html
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A Seymour priest has been put on administrative leave following a lawsuit that accuses him of sexual abuse.
William Dotson is suing Rev. Stephen Bzdrya of St. Augustine Church in Seymour. He claims the priest's abuse began when he was an altar boy at St. Francis Church in New Haven.
Attorney Michael Stratton is representing Dotson. He detailed the victims alleged abuse at the hands of Rev. Bzdrya. "He was abused when he was just 10 years old, repeatedly since he was 10 years old. Father Bzdrya is a sexual predator. He would take a belt and whip will Dotson take down his pants and rape him repeatedly," Stratton said.
Stratton says during the abusive years, Bzdrya threatened to call DCF on Dotson’s mother if he told anyone. When the alleged abuse finally stopped, Dotson says the priest started buying him lavish gifts. "He did many, many things to keep Dotson from coming forward," Stratton said.
Dotson, 34, was suicidal in his 20s and had spent years in intense therapy. Stratton says Dotson was ready to leave the alleged abuse behind him, until Bzdrya did the unthinkable. "When his own son was confronted by Father Bzdrya that was too much for William to take. Father Bzdrya actually put a posting on Will’s 9-year-old son's Facebook page."Dotson is suing the priest, St. Francis, the church he was transferred to in Naugatuck, St. Hedwig and the Hartford Roman Catholic Diocese.
He's asking for $15,000 in damages. He wants the church to release records that show they knew about the abuse. More importantly he wants the priest removed from St. Augustine Church for good.
The Archdiocese says it is their policy not to comment publicly on a specific lawsuit but to allow it to work its way through the court system. But it says, in keeping with policy, Bzdrya is on administrative leave while it investigates.
The Archdiocese is asking anyone with relevant information about these accusations to call them at (860) 541-6491
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