By Rita Ciolli
Newsday
January 7, 2003

The priests serving St. Dominic's parish in Oyster Bay have lashed out at Newsday for "unconscionable sensationalizing" in its report about sexual abuse allegations against former pastor Msgr. Charles "Bud" Ribaudo.

The sharp response from the three priests - in a letter inserted in Sunday's parish bulletin, as well as from the altar during Mass - is critical of the detailed sworn statement by the Rev. Michael Hands that was the basis of a story in Friday's Newsday as well as a column by Jimmy Breslin. Hands is looking for a more lenient sentence in his own molestation case.

Hands is due to be sentenced later his month in Nassau County Court, almost 10 months after pleading guilty to five counts of sodomy and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child from 1999 to 2001. Similar charges stemming from the sexual relationship, which began when the boy was 13, are pending in Suffolk County. Hands, who is asking the Vatican to let him leave the priesthood, gave the sworn statement last month to the lawyer for his victim's family, hoping for lenient treatment by the judges.

The priests call Hands' claims "a set of self-serving statements made by an admitted wrongdoer." The letter notes, as did the Newsday story, that Hands gave the four-hour, 138-page statement without being cross-examined and for the benefit of a more favorable sentence. Hands has also testified extensively before the Suffolk County grand jury investigating how the Diocese of Rockville Centre handled sexual abuse claims against its priests.

"To weave a one-sided 'story' out of such unchallenged claims is not reporting; it is yellow journalism at its worst. It propagates accusations as if they are facts and hearsay as if it is real testimony," according to the letter. At the bottom of the single sheet of parish letterhead appear the names of the current pastor, Msgr. John Alessandro, and two other parish priests, Msgr. Donald Beckmann and the Rev. Malcolm Burns.

None returned numerous requests for comment.

Bishop William Murphy was on vacation last week and did not see the St. Dominic's statement, according to Joanne Novarro, a spokeswoman for the diocese. She said diocesean lawyers, who obtained a copy of Hands' statement over the weekend, are reviewing it.

Ribaudo, who has strenuously denied all abuse allegations in the past, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The letter does not make mention of the main thrust of the story: Hands' contention that he was asked by Msgr. Frank Caldwell, diocesan director of priest personnel, to keep quiet about his charges against Ribaudo, considered one of the diocese's best fund-raisers, so he could be sent back to St. Dominic's in December 2001. Then, after the Boston sex scandal broke in early 2002, Hands claims that Caldwell asked him in March 2002 to deny to Newsday that Ribaudo had ever molested him.

According to Hands, Caldwell wanted Hands to deny that he had accused Ribaudo of molesting him when the older man was chaplain at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville and Hands was a student there. After the Newsday story, Ribaudo resigned as pastor and Murphy suspended him from officiating as a priest.

The St. Dominic's priests said they know "this sort of vilification is especially hurtful" to people of the parish.

Contributions to St. Dominic's, one of Long Island's wealthiest parishes, have been in decline during the past year. A recent parish bulletin shows that contributions for the week of Dec. 22 show a 16 percent decrease from the same week the year before, with $20,769 donated in 2001 compared with $17,507 in 2002.

GRAPHIC: Photo - Msgr. Charles Ribaudo