NEW YORK
Church Militant
by Joseph Pelletier • ChurchMilitant.com • June 13, 2016
Assemblywoman argues Bp. Nicolas DiMarzio offered her $5K to drop abuse statute reform support
BROOKLYN (ChurchMilitant.com) – 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. …
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.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.