Assemblywoman Argues Bp. Nicolas Dimarzio Offered Her $5k to Drop Abuse Statute Reform Support

By Joseph Pelletier
Church Militant
June 13, 2016

http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/brooklyn-abp-accused-of-bribery


The bishop of Brooklyn is being accused of bribing an elected official.

In a speech in Brooklyn last week, Democrat assemblywoman Margaret Markey claimed Bp. Nicholas DiMarzio offered her $5,000 in hush money in exchange for withdrawing her support for proposed reforms to state law concerning the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases. Markey has been a vocal proponent of the reforms for nearly a decade.

"I'm not a billionaire, but I don't need $5,000 to buy me off," she told the Daily News, adding the alleged offer from Bp. DiMarzio came in 2007 ahead of 2008's New York State Assembly elections. The money was offered as a payoff and not as a campaign donation, she added.

A spokesman for the assmeblywoman claimed the bishop had suggested the money could be used for therapy for a member of her family who was a victim of child sex abuse.

Markey maintains that after she refused the bribe, the bishop harassed her re-election campaign with robocalls, accusing her of not having Catholic values. "I do have Catholic values," the Queens politician asserted. "But my Catholic values don't include raping children."

When questioned as to why she had not reported the bribe to authorities in 2007, Markey claims any investigation would simply be a question of "[h]e said, I said." The assemblywoman claims she chose to publicly reveal the nine-year-old event after being overcome with emotion following a protest for the statute reforms held last week near the Brooklyn Bridge.

Clerical abuse victims are backing Markey. "I'd call that shut up money," one declared. "He tried to pay her to shut up, right? That speaks for itself."

The Brooklyn diocese, however, has called the accusation "patently false."

"The bishop did not, would not and has never attempted to bribe an elected official or anyone else," maintains a diocesan spokeswoman. "This is a very serious allegation against a clergyman with an impeccable reputation. It is beyond comprehension that an elected official would not report an alleged crime of this kind to the proper authorities. She did not report it. It is not true."

The diocese's position is corroborated by a nun who was in the room with Markey and the bishop during the meeting in question and asserts "[n]o money, no $5,000 was ever mentioned."

DiMarzio himself, who has led the Brooklyn diocese since 2003, personally responded to Markey's allegations in a two-page letter, stating his "character has been impugned and [his] name slandered as the bishop of the diocese of Brooklyn."

"I am writing this letter to refresh your memory as to our conversation nine years ago and to demand your immediate retraction of your defamatory statements," DiMarzio wrote. The bishop highlighted the fact that Markey had initially claimed the meeting took place in 2010 and later corrected the year to 2007 as proving his point that the elimination of the statute of limitations is dangerous.

"Memories fade, witnesses die, and evidence gets lost," he noted.

In response, Markey stated she "told the truth" and was "not going to apologize."

An investigation into the claims is not expected to be opened, as state bribery charges are required to be brought forth within three years of the crime and federal charges must be sought within five years.