By Michael O'Keeffe
New York Daily News
April 4, 2011
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/iteam/2011/04/04/2011-04-04_bob_oliva_exchrist_the_king_basketball_coach_pleads_guilty_to_sexual_abuse_will_.html
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| Bob Oliva's plea deal keeps the former Christ the King basketball coach from serving any prison time but he will have to register as a sex offender. |
Former Christ the King basketball coach Bob Oliva pleaded guilty to sexual abuse charges in a Massachusetts courtroom Monday, acknowledging that he molested a 14-year-old boy during a 1976 trip to Boston.
Oliva, who was indicted by a Boston grand jury last year on two counts of rape of a child and faced two life sentences, will not serve any time in prison. But the plea agreement his attorney, Michael Doolin, negotiated with the Suffolk County (Mass.) District Attorney's office does require Oliva to register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender treatment, wear a GPS device, give up coaching and teaching, and have no unsupervised contact with minors.
"I now realize I lost my childhood to Bob Oliva," said, the victim, Jimmy Carlino, as he read an impact statement. "You are a sick, disgusting person and a poor excuse for a human being."
Mitchell Garabedian, Carlino's Boston attorney, announced immediately after the hearing that he had filed a $20 million lawsuit against Oliva, Christ the King Regional High School, the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Catholic Youth Organization and other defendants on Friday in New York State Supreme in Queens. The suit alleges Oliva abused his client repeatedly over a four-year period during the 1970s and that the institutions failed to take steps to properly supervise Oliva or protect children from a sexual predator.
"Mr. Oliva may be in the Hall of Fame at Christ the King, but he is in the Hall of Shame now," Garabedian said.
Friends and family members of the Carlino, told the Daily News last week that they believed Oliva should have spent at least a few months in a Massachusetts prison. The News first reported Carlino's claims of abuse in the summer of 2008.
"I'm very disappointed," said Sam Albano, a sports TV producer and former Oliva friend who testified before the grand jury that indicted Oliva. "This predator will keep his act on the streets where he will always be a threat to society."
In a letter to Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball, Albano urged Ball to reject the deal, saying Oliva has repeatedly claimed the sex abuse allegations were an attempt by Carlino and others to shake him down and ruin his reputation.
"Oliva is pleading guilty for the convenience of not being incarcerated and nothing more, particularly since he faces two life sentences for his predatory acts on the victim," Albano wrote.
Other Carlino supporters say that although Oliva is avoiding a prison sentence, he is not getting off scot-free.
Oliva, who won 549 games and four CHSAA Class AA intersectional titles during 27 seasons at Christ the King Regional High School, is one of the most important coaches in New York City basketball history. Scores of his players - including Lamar Odom and Jayson Williams - later played for top Division I and NBA teams.
Oliva resigned as the Royals' coach in January 2009, citing heart problems caused by the strain of sex abuse allegations raised by Carlino. Carlino told the Daily News that he first met Oliva when he was a 7-year-old kid trying out for the youth basketball program at St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church in Queens. He said Oliva abused him for several years during the 1970s, beginning when Carlino was 11 years old.
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