GREENWICH VILLAGE (NY)
West Village Patch
October 30, 2017
By Ciara McCarthy
The allegations were made against a prominent Manhattan reverend.
GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — A former priest has accused a well known figure in the New York City Catholic church of sexually abusing him for a decade staring when the victim was 14 years old.
Stephen Ryan-Vuotto publicly made allegations against Rev. Robert Lott, a priest who worked in the Greenwich Village and Harlem communities until his death in 2002.
Ryan-Vuotto first told his story to the New York Times on Sunday before hosting a press conference with his husband, Michael Vuotto, and his lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, on Monday.
Garabedian, the attorney who was depicted in the film “Spotlight,” has reached settlements totaling $2.125 million through claims against multiple New York area priests, he said on Monday.
Ryan-Vuotto’s story of years of abuse came after he reached a $500,000 settlement with the Archdiocese of New York through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Programs, which is funded by the Archdiocese of New York but independently run, he said. The program was established last year to allow victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy to apply for compensation from the church.
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