Lawsuit Accuses Brooklyn Bishop of Sex Abuse in Jersey City Decades Ago

By Abbott Koloff
The Record and NorthJersey.com
February 22, 2021

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2021/02/22/lawsuit-accuses-brooklyn-bishop-sex-abuse-nj-decades-ago/4540240001/

One of two men who have accused Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of sexually abusing them as children in Jersey City decades ago has filed a lawsuit based on allegations that he made public last year.

The suit, filed last week in New Jersey Superior Court, alleges that DiMarzio sexually abused the man repeatedly when he was a 6-year-old boy at Holy Rosary parish in 1979 and 1980. The accuser, Samier Tadros, who lives in Florida, went public with the allegation in 2020, months after another man publicly alleged that he had been abused by DiMarzio at another Jersey City parish in the 1970s.

The bishop has in the past denied the allegations by both men. On Monday, his attorney, Joseph Hayden, issued a statement saying DiMarzio had passed a lie detector test.

“The allegations in the lawsuit against Bishop DiMarzio never happened," Hayden said in the statement.

He said DiMarzio agreed to take a lie detector test after a letter alleging abuse was sent to the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark in March 2020. That letter had been sent by Tadros and his attorney. The bishop's "categorical denial of the claim was found to be truthful by an independent retired law-enforcement polygrapher of national stature," Hayden said in the statement.

The statement addressed only the allegation in the lawsuit. Hayden said in a subsequent email that DiMarzio was also asked during the lie detector test about allegations made by the other accuser. "He categorically denied both allegations and he was found to be truthful as to both answers," Hayden said.

Both accusers are represented by Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney, who said he anticipates filing a second lawsuit "in the near future." The attorney said in an email that lie detector tests are "unscientific and therefore unreliable. The results of it would not be admissible in court."

Based on an examination of court records by The Record and NorthJersey.com, this is the 300th lawsuit filed against Catholic Church dioceses in New Jersey since Dec. 1, 2019, when the state suspended the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse lawsuits for two years.

Pope Francis had instructed Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the New York Archdiocese to conduct an investigation into the allegations against DiMarzio. The probe was being conducted by a firm that was founded by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who had investigated allegations against former Penn State football assistant Jerry Sandusky and issued a report that was critical of university officials.

A spokesman for the New York Archdiocese did not immediately respond to a request for information regarding the status of that investigation on Monday.

Hayden said in his statement that a "canonical investigation" had been conducted by an independent law firm that used investigative services of "law-enforcement officials under the direction of a former FBI director." He said that the bishop met with investigators and that the results of the investigation had been sent to Rome.

"We are currently awaiting the findings," he said.

Garabedian said his clients and their families also spoke to investigators, adding that he anticipated that the investigation would "die on the vine" and its results would not be revealed to the public.

Several years ago, DiMarzio was selected by Pope Francis to lead an investigation into the handling of sex abuse allegations in the Buffalo Diocese. Shortly after he submitted his report, Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone resigned.

The Brooklyn bishop was among the featured celebrants last year when Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a former Brooklyn priest, was installed as leader of the Paterson Diocese. DiMarzio has led the Brooklyn Diocese since 2003. He had been the bishop of the Camden Diocese for four years before being moved to Brooklyn.

According to the lawsuit filed last week, DiMarzio allegedly abused Tadros at Holy Rosary parish in Jersey City in 1979 and 1980, beginning when the plaintiff was 6 years old. The abuse allegedly took place as Tadros "received instruction in Catholic doctrine and the Catholic faith from Defendant Bishop DiMarzio."

The lawsuit names DiMarzio, Holy Rosary and the Newark Archdiocese as defendants. A spokeswoman for the Newark Archdiocese said in a statement that the archdiocese could not comment "on matters in litigation" but is "fully committed to transparency and to our long-standing programs to protect the faithful."

DiMarzio denied the allegations in a statement: "I did not abuse the accuser or anyone else in my 50-year ministry as a priest," he said. "This is defamatory. False claims do real damage to victims of sexual abuse."

DiMarzio, who is 76, said in his statement that "the accuser did not attend the parish or the parish school, and does not appear to have been Catholic," so he would not have provided catechism lessons to him. He said he had been living at Holy Rosary while he was assigned to "minister full-time to Catholic Charities."

Garabedian said he could not comment about certain aspects of the case not mentioned in the lawsuit but that his client was "being instructed in Catholic doctrine" and that "Bishop DiMarzio was teaching him to be a Catholic."

Another of Garabedian's clients has alleged that DiMarzio abused him at St. Nicholas parish in Jersey City in the 1970s. Garabedian said he expects to file a lawsuit in that case within the next 30 days.

Abbott Koloff is an investigative reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his watchdog work that safeguards our communities and democracy, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: koloff@northjersey.com