BishopAccountability.org
February 25, 2011
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/assign/Ferraro_Romano_J_with_docs.htm
[full text]
Summary of Case: Ferraro was arrested on 4/1/02 for repeatedly raping a boy 1973-80 in Billerica MA, starting when the boy was 7 years old. Ferraro was convicted on 5/7/04, when a jury found him guilty of child rape and guilty on three counts of indecent assault and battery against a child under 14. He was sentenced on 5/20/04 to life in prison. Ferraro was a childhood friend of the boy's father and molested the child during annual Christmas visits. The victim had come forward to authorities in late 2001, and it was possible to prosecute because the SOL clock, which precluded bringing charges six years or more after a crime is committed, had stopped with Ferraro out of state. Ferraro denied the charge but admitted at the trial that he was a pedophile predator who had abused perhaps dozens of boys. He also stated that he knew he was a pedophile by 1955, 5 years before his ordination. Earliest abuse alleged in civil suits was 1964-68 but previous assignments suggest earlier problems. Then he was in Key West FL as Navy chaplain 1968-71 in the Miami archdiocese; was dishonorably discharged; and was sued 1/06 for FL abuse. Reassigned, he allegedly abused in the Brooklyn, Rockville Centre, St. Louis, and Metuchen dioceses. A St. Louis man who alleged abuse by Ferraro committed suicide in 2006 after a long struggle with depression. Ferraro was suspended in 1988 after an allegation, but the Brooklyn diocese apparently knew much earlier (see discussion below).
Ordained: 5/28/60
Incardinated: Brooklyn NY (1960-85); Metuchen NJ (1985-86); Brooklyn NY (1986-2007); also worked in the Miami archdiocese 1968-1969 with the Military Ordinariate, the Rockville Centre diocese 1975-1977 and 1986-1987, the St. Louis archdiocese (1981-1983), and the New York archdiocese (1983 and 1987-1988); treated in St. Louis archdiocese (1980-1981) and Washington archdiocese (1989); incarcerated in Boston archdiocese (2004-2011).
 |
| Rev. Romano J. Ferraro in the vestibule of St. Joseph's church in Kings Park in the Rockville Centre diocese on December 25, 1975 or 1974. His is posing with several children and a teenager dressed as Santa Claus. Photo donated by a former parishioner; cropped and redacted by BishopAccountability.org. |
 |
| Ferraro at his arraignment on April 8, 2002 in Cambridge MA on charges of child rape and abuse. |
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.