L. I. Diocese to Change Investigators in Sex Abuse

By David W. Chen and Daniel J. Wakin
New York Times
April 17, 2002

The Catholic Church's top official on Long Island has dismantled a three-man team of clergymen that had been assigned in 1992 to investigate sex abuse allegations against priests, and vowed to replace it with a more diverse group that would include lay people, officials said yesterday.

The unexpected restructuring at the Diocese of Rockville Centre comes at a time when Bishop William Murphy, the leader of Long Island's 1.5 million Roman Catholics, has come under increasing pressure to cooperate more fully and openly with law enforcement officials. Just last week, when Thomas J. Spota, the Suffolk County district attorney, announced the formation of a special grand jury to investigate abuse accusations, he suggested that the church was covering up cases.

Some supporters say the move signals a sincere attempt by Bishop Murphy to reform the process and start anew. Others suggest that the church is looking to distance itself from cases that these three priests may have mishandled.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Bishop Murphy said that the changes to what the diocese calls its "intervention team" did not reflect poorly on the members' collective performance. At the same time, however, the diocese did acknowledge that "things have to change here in our diocese" in dealing with any future allegations.

"It can't only be priests," said Joanne Novarro, the spokeswoman. "There's been a lot of criticism of the fact that we have had only priests on the intervention team. After much deliberation, the bishop realized we need to have the input from the laity."

Two of the three members -- Msgr. Alan Placa and Msgr. John A. Alesandro -- were considered powerful figures in the diocese long before Bishop Murphy arrived in September. They both have legal backgrounds and served on the team dealing with sex abuse allegations since its inception in 1992, Ms. Novarro said. Together with the third member, the director of priest personnel, Msgr. Frank Caldwell, the intervention team interviewed complainants and priests, then reported back to the bishop. That work, in turn, was reviewed by another committee, which included a layperson.

Bishop Murphy issued a statement yesterday saying that Monsignor Placa, a close childhood friend of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's, would take a sabbatical. And it was announced that Monsignor Alesandro had been appointed pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Oyster Bay, succeeding Msgr. Charles Ribaudo, who resigned last month because of allegations that he had inappropriately touched a student 20 years ago. Monsignor Caldwell is to remain personnel director.

But lawyers representing people who say they were abused by diocesan priests said they believed the diocese's decision to break up the investigative team stemmed from Monsignor Placa's handling of a 1997 case in which a Long Island man said he had been molested as a boy by a priest at St. Margaret of Scotland Church in Selden, N.Y.

As was first reported in Newsday, the man, Matthew Mosher, said he met with Monsignor Placa in 1997 and detailed the abuse he said he suffered, but Monsignor Placa did not notify either law enforcement or the parish about the priest. The priest, the Rev. Angelo Ditta, continued to serve in the diocese after a period of therapy. He was removed from active duty late in March.

Melanie Little, Mr. Mosher's lawyer, said she believed that Monsignor Placa had long had a potential conflict of interest in such cases because, she said, he met with victims as a spiritual adviser without alerting them that he was also a lawyer who might be helping the diocese assess its liability.

"Monsignor Placa might have had a pattern of mishandling the sex abuse allegations brought to his attention," she said.

It is not clear how many people will serve on the new team, Ms. Novarro said. But one person who has been appointed, she said, is the Rev. Robert Batule, who leads Corpus Christi parish in Mineola. And people close to the diocese say that several prominent people in the legal and medical fields have been asked to join.

Still, one critic said that the changes did not address what she felt was the most fundamental flaw in the process: that the church was not directly reporting allegations of abuse to law enforcement officials.

"I don't agree with what they might say is a 'new, improved committee,' " said Laura A. Ahearn, director of Parents for Megan's Law, based in Stony Brook. "It's another layer, and it's another attempt by the diocese to maintain control, or maintain their reputation."