Time for Historical Child Sex Abuse Law Suits is Running Out in NY. You Must Act Soon or the Door Will Close.

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New York child sex abuse victims running out of time

to go to court: advocates

By Kathianne Boniello, NY Post

April 3, 2021 | 2:43pm

Children's Village victim Scott Sartory   Provided by Scott Sartory

Time is running out for childhood sex abuse victims in New York to get justice.

The legal window opened by New York’s Child Victims Act, which permits old claims to be brought to court, closes Aug. 14.

More than 5,100 cases have been filed so far in the state, with nearly half, 2,392, filed in the five boroughs, according to the Office of Court Administration.

The 2019 legislation originally lifted the statute of limitations on such cases for a year, but the deadline was later extended.

The most prolific church-related abuser in New York identified so far may be a Bronx coach believed to have molested an entire generation of kids, according to attorney Jeff Herman, who has been contacted by more than 60 accusers so far, and filed lawsuits on behalf of 44.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel basketball coach Rudy Tremaroli, who died in 1992, started out as a janitor and later ran a youth program, summer camp and community center, where he hosted movie nights.

Tremaroli’s victims may be the second most in New York, behind only to Rockefeller University’s Dr. Reginald Archibald (5th story on the link), Herman believes.

“Rudy was a serial predator who sexually assaulted, I believe, hundreds of little boys in the Mount Carmel community — at the church, at the school, at the community center. He was also a prolific creator of child porn using these little boys,” Herman told The Post. “There’s a lost generation of little boys who fell victim to this.”

What’s especially striking in Tremaroli’s case: the coach was never removed from the community, school or church, despite years of victims reporting the alleged abuse.

Rudy Tremaroli worked at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Bronx. There are now at least 53 cases filed against the late Tremaroli.

Courtesy of Herman Law

“He was protected,” Herman said.

Multiple victims have also come forward alleging chilling abuse at the Children’s Village, a century-old Westchester child welfare agency, according to court papers.

At least 28 alleged victims from the Children’s Village have come forward to one Manhattan law firm, said attorneys Rob Greenstein and Michael Barnett.

The alleged victims describe brutal attacks from older, stronger kids at Children’s Village, as well as staffers, including being groped, beaten, forced into oral sex and anally raped, according to the lawsuits already filed against the organization from those claiming they were abused in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.

One victim was abused so violently they were sent to the hospital for an injured penis, according to court papers.

“Children’s Village was a nightmare... Prison was easier"

Scott Sartory, 42, went to Children’s Village when he was 5 and was later adopted by one of his abusers, he claims in court papers. He fled the adoptive parent’s home at age 12, preferring to live on the streets.

“Children’s Village was a nightmare,” he told The Post. “I was incarcerated in 1998. Prison was easier in my lifetime than the Children’s Village.”

Sartory doesn’t think there should be a deadline for victims to file the such claims.

“This happened when I was 6 years old,” he said. “It was dying with me. It took me over 30 years to make that decision [to come forward].”

Juan Nazario was just 8 when he went to Children’s Village. The 49-year-old filed his lawsuit after his son told him about the Child Victim’s Act.

“That was a door I didn’t want to open,” he said of his decision to go public.

“Every child deserves and needs to feel safe, secure, and supported,” a Children’s Village spokesman told The Post. “We take significant and wide-reaching steps to ensure that’s what every child in our care can count on every day.”

For Chynna Valentin, who was sent to the all-boys institution at age 9 in the 1970s and later transitioned to being a woman, the lawsuit is about protecting children.

“I didn’t come forward for some kind of monetary gain,” she insisted.

Valentin, now 58, cried as she spoke. “If just one person, if just one child can hear what we’ve been through and come forward to stop this from happening to one more child, that’s it. That’s all I want.”

Don't settle for one when there are millions every single day! At the very least, pray for them.

Suspended Sentence for Priest's Sex Abuse of 12 y/o Boy 50 Years Ago

Reverend Bruce Shaw pleads guilty to abuse of boy, 12, five decades ago 

Joanne McCarthy

Convicted: An elderly Newcastle Anglican diocese priest has been convicted of child sex offences in the 1960s.

A NEWCASTLE Anglican priest was given a three month suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy in 1967.

Reverend Bruce Shaw, 72, was working at a spiritual retreat at Stroud in 2016 when he was charged with the offence which occurred when he was sole teacher and principal at a Victorian primary school.

Wangaratta Magistrates Court was told Shaw was 23 when he invited two young family friends to his rural property for the weekend, and insisted the 12-year-old sleep in his bed.

Six years later Shaw completed his training and became an ordained priest.

He was given permission to officiate in Newcastle Anglican diocese on June 13, 2013.

In a message to clergy this week Newcastle Bishop Peter Stuart said Shaw’s permission to officiate was suspended when the diocese learnt of the charge against Shaw, and his permission had been revoked.

“The diocesan professional standards committee will give further consideration to this conviction in due course,” Bishop Stuart said.

Wangaratta magistrate Ian Watkins said the victim reported the crime to police in October, 2015. Mr Watkins said the report was prompted by publicity around the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The delay in reporting of nearly five decades was “not all that unique for offending of this nature”, Mr Watkins said.

The court heard Shaw was “probably grappling with his own sexuality” when the incident occurred.

'Grappling' is a great description. A would-be priest ought to be 'grappling' with God over such things rather than 'grappling' 12 year old boys. When he realized that he was a paedophile, did he apologize to the boy? To God? Apparently, he felt it qualified him for ministry.

In the 1990s the victim wrote to Shaw who admitted the act and sought forgiveness.

Mr Watkins said he had no doubt the victim would have had lasting memories of what occurred and it was a matter of extreme concern that the victim was only 12 years old, but Shaw admitting responsibility after the victim wrote to him would have helped.

“The interaction you had with him in the 1990s where you admitted responsibility and sought forgiveness would have gone some way to healing the pain,” he said.

Shaw’s sentencing came after counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended adverse findings against former Newcastle Anglican bishops, senior clergy and senior lay people after a public hearing in Newcastle in August about the diocese’s response to child sexual abuse allegations over decades.

In a statement after the recommended findings were released Bishop Stuart said final submissions to the royal commission “continue to recount the horrendous experience of children of the diocese and their families”.

“The submissions also point to a failure by the diocese to appropriately respond when people came forward to seek assistance,” Bishop Stuart said.

Recent Newcastle diocese Synod meetings had shown “very clear support to face the past and shape a healthy future”, he said.

“The people of the diocese have spoken with a strong voice that our church must respond well to survivors of abuse and must be a safe place for children.”

Police Charge 29 People over Historic Child Sex Abuse in West Yorkshire town

GEORGINA MORRIS

Dozens of people have been charged with the sexual exploitation of teenage girls in a West Yorkshire town after police investigated historic allegations of abuse.

The 27 men and two women have been charged with a catalogue of offences including human trafficking, child abduction, false imprisonment, threats to kill, rape, inciting a child into prostitution, supply of class A drugs and making indecent images of children.

Police today said the allegations against the defendants related to non-recent sexual offences, which took place in the Huddersfield area between 2004 and 2011.

The 18 female victims were aged between 11 and 17 years old at the time the offences took place.

All those charged have been released on police bail and will appear at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court on April 12.

The majority of the defendants are in their late 20s or 30s, with the youngest aged 25 and the oldest aged 55.

All but three of those charged still live in Huddersfield, with the remaining three living in Bradford, Manchester and Dudley.

Pedophile Imprisoned Girl in ‘Hidey-Hole’ Behind Fridge Guarded by Alsatians

© Fred Prouser / Reuters

A sex offender described as “paranoid and short-tempered,” who used a hidey-hole guarded by dogs in his kitchen to conceal a girl he was abusing, has been found guilty of sex crimes spanning decades.

Michael Dunn, 57, reportedly created a cavity in a wall behind his fridge and camouflaged it with a false wall, giving himself a hidden space to carry out violent abuse against four “powerless” victims.

One imprisoned runaway girl, who was concealed from police on eight or nine occasions, later killed herself after reporting Dunn’s crimes to the authorities.

The abuser used Alsatian dogs to guard the secret sex dungeon and wired his home with CCTV cameras, alarms, and sensors in case the police came looking for his captives.

Dunn was described in Teesside Crown Court as a “paranoid and short-tempered tormentor who used violence when his sexual demands were not met,” according to the Daily Mail.

On Wednesday, he was convicted of 10 rapes, three charges of false imprisonment, and three charges of indecent assault, while being cleared of one charge of rape, one of making a threat to kill, and one of grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor Richard Bennett said Dunn was a “violent, controlling and sexually abusive man.”

One of his victims was reportedly an underage girl who had already been raped and beaten by another man.

Bennett told the court that Dunn appeared protective and caring at first, but then started making sexual advances.

Although the girl allegedly resisted, he persisted and sexually assaulted her. The prosecutor said Dunn groomed, molested, and raped her when she was a vulnerable child.

The girl, who was imprisoned at his home in Redcar, north Yorkshire, was reportedly punched in the face, chest and stomach and had her throat grabbed by Dunn.

Jurors were told that she was left a ‘bloodied mess’ after he punished her for trying to escape and how the abuse drove her to kill herself.

Dunn’s violent crimes came to the attention of the police when his victim went to the authorities as an adult and made a complaint in 2014.

A second female victim was also beaten and left with black eyes, the prosecution said. She fearfully submitted to sex with him after he threatened to attack her.

Dunn reportedly groomed a third underage girl by giving her alcohol and cigarettes before sexually assaulting her decades ago.

She made a complaint against him, which he denied, and he was not prosecuted at the time, as the allegation went no further.

His fourth victim was reportedly another pre-teen girl, who he raped and told afterwards, “it’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do.”

She challenged Dunn when she encountered him years later. He is said to have replied, “I’ll have you done for slander."

Judge Tony Briggs remanded Dunn to custody until sentencing at a later date.

Detective Sergeant Dave Pettrick, Cleveland Police, said: “This was an extremely complex and difficult inquiry which spanned many years and several locations in the UK. I would first of all like to pay tribute to the victims for their bravery and for supporting our which enabled us to bring Dunn before the courts.

“Essentially Dunn groomed several women and young girls, in some cases making them completely dependent on him, and carrying out sexual offences against all of them.

“Some of the victims were kept in line through Dunn’s extreme violence or even through the fear of violence and he had complete and absolute control over their lives. He ensured he and his victims evaded the authorities while he continued to abuse and control the women.”

“Needless to say, all four women are deeply affected by their terrible ordeal. I hope today’s verdict will bring some comfort to them as they attempt to move on with their lives,” he added.

It's unfortunate that it took decades for the women to come forward and hold Dunn accountable; one wonders if there were many more victims in the meantime. But child sex abuse when combined with other physical violence and threats dramatically increases the trauma level and consequently the length of time before the victims can emotionally cope with the horror of it all. 

I pray God would bring healing to these women.

Redcar, UK

Historical Child Sex Abuse Claims Against Catholic Church Decline in Dublin

Settlements cost archdiocese €22.4 million to date, including legal fees of €7.2 million

Patsy McGarry, The Irish Times

Diocesan director of safeguarding Andrew Fagan said the continuing decline meant the service could give more time  to ensuring the creation and maintenance of safe environments for children

    Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland

Four new allegations of child sexual abuse involving its priests were received by Dublin’s Catholic Archdiocese this year, new figures show

Three of the priests were dead and one was retired. It indicates a continuing decline in the number of complaints and allegations of abuse being processed by the archdiocese’s child safeguarding service and brings to 110 the total number of priests in Dublin against whom allegations have been made since 1940.

Of those, 12 priests or former priests have been convicted in the courts, with 277 civil actions taken against 54 priests or former priests. Of these, 215 cases have concluded and 57 are ongoing. Costs to date to the Archdiocese of settlements regarding child sexual abuse by priests are currently €22.4 million, €15.2 million in settlements and €7.2 million in legal costs for both sides.

110 priests have been accused of child sex abuse

since 1940, in Dublin

This year more than 2,000 people took part in one-day safeguarding training sessions (953) and information sessions (1,161) at the archdiocese, more than double the figure for the previous 12 months.

Also 8,500 people were Garda vetted through the Archdiocese, an increase of 1,500 on 2015. It brings to nearly 54,000 the total number of people that have been vetted through the Dublin archdiocese.

Diocesan director of safeguarding, Andrew Fagan, said “we deal with complaints about a wide range of people apart from diocesan priests and there has been a notable decrease in the number of such cases coming to our attention since 2010. This proved true in 2016 also.”

The continuing decline in the number of complaints received meant the service could give more time and attention to the work in parishes to ensure the creation and maintenance of safe environments for children, he said.

This was reflected in the doubling of the numbers attending training and information sessions. Mr Fagan warned, however, that it was vital that no-one became complacent around the issue of child abuse, whether working directly in the Child Safeguarding Service or in a volunteer capacity in parishes.

The diocesan service was still very much alert to the need to help and support anyone who has suffered from child abuse and anyone who has concerns about child abuse, he said.