At least 16 deceased Island clergy on Archdiocese list of priests credibly accused of sex abuse

By Joseph Ostapiuk
Staten Island Advance
April 26, 2019

https://bit.ly/2UMQG2J

Advance research has confirmed that 15 deceased priests who have served on Staten Island are among the 120 bishops, priests and deacons found by the Archdiocese of New York to have been credibly accused of sex abuse.

The Advance has previously reported on prominent Island clergy who were brought before the Archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation program and found to have been credibly accused.

Through the process of cross-referencing in Advance archives, utilizing Archdiocese data, other media outlets and accessing databases of accused priests, the Advance confirmed that 16 of the deceased priests had served on Staten Island at some point in their career.

Fourteen of the 15 clergy who were credibly accused of abuse, or who were the subject of a claim made to the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) that was deemed eligible for compensation, were never previously connected to a sex scandal, according to Advance archives.

Names on the list include archdiocesan bishops, priests and deacons who have been “credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor or possessing child pornography, or who were the subject of a claim made to the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) that was deemed eligible for compensation,” according to a statement by the Archdiocese.

The deceased clergy on this list had already died or left ministry when claims about them were made to the IRCP; however, the program’s independent administrators determined that claims against them were eligible for compensation, the Archdiocese said in the statement.

The compensatory program is not an adjudicatory body, and therefore is not required to adhere to the same standards as a court of law, the statement explained.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan stressed that inclusion on the list “does not state or imply that he is guilty of a crime or liable for any civil claim.”

That list is now public at archny.org/letter. Along with those clergy’s names, the list also includes their dates of ordination and current status.

"Please be assured there is not a single priest or deacon of the Archdiocese of New York against whom there has been a credible and substantiated claim of abuse against a minor currently in ministry,” Cardinal Dolan said.

Monsignors Gaffney and Ansaldi

The Advance has previously reported that Monsignor Thomas Gaffney and Monsignor Joseph C. Ansaldi appear on the list of priests where at least one claim was deemed eligible for compensation by the IRCP.

Monsignor Gaffney and Monsignor Ansaldi, and the other priests on that list, did not have the opportunity to respond to the allegations made about them or provide a defense, the Archdiocese said.

Ordained in 1950, Monsignor Gaffney died in 2004 while embroiled in a legal battle after a New Jersey man went public in January of that year with allegations that he was abused by Monsignor Gaffney, then the pastor of St. Charles R.C. Church in Oakwood.

Monsignor Gaffney was widely credited for keeping St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School in Huguenot open after he became principal in 1973 during a financial crisis that could have shuttered the school.

He was assigned to head St. Charles in 1982, and he focused his attention on the school and boosting its enrollment.

Dan O’Dougherty said in 2004 that he was abused for three years while he was an altar boy and student at the parish school. At the time, many parishioners and clergy on the Island rallied around Monsignor Gaffney.

Monsignor Ansaldi, former vicar of Staten Island and principal emeritus of St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School, Huguenot, was 79 years old when he was found unresponsive in November 2015 in his room in the rectory of St. Charles R.C. Church, where he had been a longtime weekend associate.

This is the first time Monsignor Ansaldi’s name as been publicly cited by the church in connection with the abuse scandal. No information was provided by the archdiocese about the circumstances of the accusation against him.

Ordained in 1962, Monsignor Ansaldi was principal for 27 years at St. Joseph-by-the-Sea High School where he also served as assistant principal and teacher. He was elevated to monsignor in 1990 by the late Pope John Paul II. The following year he was named as co-vicar for Staten Island by the late Cardinal John J. O’Connor, a position he maintained until 1998. He stepped down as vicar to devote more of his time to Sea.

After reaching the mandatory priest retirement age of 75, Monsignor Ansaldi served as a chaplain at St. Peter’s Boys High School, New Brighton, and St. Joseph Hill Academy, Arrochar, and as a chapel assistant at Monsignor Farrell High School, Oakwood.

In addition to Monsignor Gaffney and Monsignor Ansaldi, the following is a list of priests found by the Archdiocese of New York to be credibly accused of sex abuse that, as confirmed through Advance research, served on Staten Island during their careers. It is not clear when the alleged abuses occurred, or if the abuses occurred on Staten Island.

• Rev. Maurice Carroll, ordained 1956, Monsignor Farrell High School, Oakwood, from 1963 to 1981.
• Rev. Daniel Cassiero, ordained in 1968, St. Teresa’s R.C. Church, Castleton Corners, from about 1968 to 1970; Monsignor Farrell High School, Oakwood, from about 1970 to 1979.
• Monsignor Vincent Clyne, ordained in 1945, St. Ann's R.C. Church, Dongan Hills, from 1977 to 1990.
• Rev. Daniel Croston, ordained in 1968, Our Lady Star of the Sea R.C. Church, Huguenot, from 1971 to 1977.
• Monsignor Kenneth Gerathy, ordained in 1954, Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church, West Brighton, from 1960 to 1968; St. Ann’s R.C. Church, Dongan Hills; St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church, Midland Beach.
• Rev. Eugene Hicks, ordained in 1952, St. Clare's R.C. Church, Great Kills, from 1957 to 1986.
• Rev. Robert Lott, ordained in 1965, St. Rita Church, Meiers Corners
• Rev. Eugene Mangan, ordained in 1958, St. Sylvester's R.C. Church, Concord, 1988 to 1997; Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto, Pleasant Plains, from 1959 to 1979; St. Christopher's Church, Grant City, 1979 to 1988.
• Monsignor Charles McDonagh, ordained in 1963, St. Vincent's Campus of the Sisters of Charity Medical Center, West Brighton, from 1997 to 1999.
• Rev. Lawrence Quinn, ordained in 1967, St. Ann's R.C. Church, Dongan Hills, from 1990 to 2004.
• Rev. Raymond Shine, ordained in 1953, St. Mary's R.C. Church, Rosebank, 1971 to 1991.
• Rev. Casper Wolf, ordained in 1938, St. Margaret Mary’s R.C. Church, 1970 to 1972.
• Rev. Aldo Tos, ordained in 1953, former pastor of St. Patrick’s R.C. Church, Richmond, from the late 1970s to 1986, and former chairman of the religion department and a teacher at Monsignor Farrell High School, Oakwood, from 1969 to 1976.