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	Man Who Alleges He Was Sexually Abused by Priests Sues Albany Diocese for Breaching Hipaa Privacy Laws By Danielle Sanzone The Saratogian December 30, 2011 http://saratogian.com/articles/2011/12/30/news/doc4efe0707ac51d108393369.txt An alleged victim of sexual abuse has filed a federal civil rights case with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding a possible breach by the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese with the HIPAA privacy act. “I’m not going away,” said Mike DeSantis, 34, of Saratoga County, who claims he was abused by several priests in the diocese, including some of those who were exonerated in November following a seven-month investigation. He has been looking into possible civil rights issues with the diocese’s actions since the decision from a diocese-appointed sexual misconduct board found that there were no grounds to substantiate allegations of sexual misconduct. DeSantis said that his therapist authorized access to his therapy records only to head investigator Joseph Flynn, a former FBI agent. But DeSantis believes that the records were also seen by at least one other person, Albert M. Rosenblatt, a retired Court of Appeals judge, who was supervising Flynn and the investigation. “We have not been notified of a complaint and cannot comment specifically without knowing what is being alleged,” said Father Kenneth Doyle, chancellor of public information at the diocese. “But any medical records used in the investigation were provided voluntarily by the complainant and made available only to those directly involved in the investigation.” A spokesperson from the Office of Civil Rights, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said specifics on the investigation could not be given. Along with the legal issue, DeSantis said there was a moral issue too, since Flynn always told DeSantis he was the only one investigating. “I did not know about the judge until the day the report was released in November,” said DeSantis, noting other discrepancies such as varying reasons for why the judge was brought in to supervise, ranging from the fact that DeSantis’ parents were associated with the diocese to DeSantis going public with the issue. The affected priests included Rev. Donald Ophals, Rev. Alan Jupin, Rev. Carl Urban, Rev. John Bertolucci, and the late Louis Douglas. “This was a slap in the face. The diocese was a place I trusted. The decision was unjust. If this was a criminal investigation, there would have been a totally different outcome,” said DeSantis about the case which could not be prosecuted in court due to the statute of limitations. DeSantis, a father of five and married since 2003, was allegedly abused between 1986 and 1991. He repressed the memories which later came up in therapy. He is also now worried because one of the priests, Ophals, is now living at a St. Ambrose housing facility near an elementary school. “While the investigation took place, the priests were not permitted to live in diocesan facilities,” said Doyle. “Now that they have been exonerated, there are no restrictions on their places of residence.” It is estimated that the civil rights investigation will take about one month, said DeSantis. Contact: news@saratogian.com
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