BUFFALO (NY)
WBFO 88.7
February 25, 2019
By Chris Caya
A Niagara County woman, who alleges being sexually assaulted by a Catholic priest when she was a teenager is suing the Diocese of Buffalo. It is believed to be the first suit of its kind, locally, since the state’s Child Victims Act was signed into law earlier this month.
Gail Holler-Kennedy is suing the Diocese along with Cardinal O’Hara High School in Tonawanda and the Franciscan orders that ran the school for $300 million.
“There is no amount that can ever bring back what was stolen from an innocent child when they were sexually abused,” said attorney Mitchell Garabedian. He says Holler-Kennedy was abused dozens of times between 1978 and 1981 by her then-science teacher Father Mark Andrzejczuk.
“On multiple occassions he wrote passes excusing the plaintiff, a young girl, from attending another teacher’s class. And when she was excused, he sexually assaulted her in an empty classroom,” Garabedian said.
Fr. Andrzejczuk died in 2011. But Garabedian says the damages he caused Holler-Kennedy are extensive.
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.