Brooklyn Diocese To Pay $27.5M Settlement In Sex Abuse Case

CLINTON HILL – The Brooklyn Diocese will pay a $27.5 million settlement to four men who say a teacher sexually abused them when they were boys.

The abuse reportedly occurred at St. Lucy’s-St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church on Willoughby Avenue in Clinton Hill from 2003 through 2009 when the victims were between the ages of 8- and 12-years-old. Angelo Serrano, a 67-year-old volunteer who taught catechism classes at the church, is said to have repeatedly abused the boys on the church grounds, in his apartment located in a converted schoolhouse behind the church, and at an after-school program located next door, the New York Times reports.

According to reports, two priests at the church, Rev. Frank Shannon and Rev. Stephen Lynch, had witnessed “clear warning signs that Mr. Serrano was abusing the children” and were named as co-defendants in the case filed by the four victims seeking punitive damages, the Times states.

Both Shannon and Lynch testified that they had been aware that several boys frequently slept over at Serrano’s apartment, and Lynch even said in a deposition that he’d seen Serrano kiss a young boy on the mouth and “inappropriately embrace” him.

A church secretary who shared an office with Serrano also testified that young boys often sat on his lap while doing their homework and that they’d often be left unsupervised with the man.

Serrano worked at the church teaching religion classes and volunteering at a summer camp from 1997 until 2009 when he was arrested after one of the boys reported the abuse to his mother. In 2011 he pleaded guilty to “inappropriate course of sexual conduct with a child” and is currently serving a 15-year sentence, the New York Daily News reports.

“Apparently he was a very sick person,” Lynch, now retired, told the Daily News. “I guess a lot of signals were missed, unfortunately, probably by myself and others.”

“I’m terribly saddened. If there was anything I could do, or think of to make amends or help (the boys) or heal them I would certainly be most anxious to do that,” he added.

According to the New York Times, the victims, now between the ages of 19 and 21, will receive $6.875 million each. The settlement is believed to be the largest ever awarded to an individual victim of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The Dorothy Bennett Mercy Center, the after-school program located next to the church, has agreed to pay approximately one third of the settlement.

The Brooklyn Diocese argued that Serrano was only a volunteer and not an employee of the church, but the lawyers for the victims found that he was paid a stipend. The Diocese also claimed that the abuse happened at his apartment, not on church grounds, which should clear them of legal responsibility.

The Brooklyn Diocese settlement is announced as the Catholic Church faces accusations of covering up multiple cases of sexual abuse over the years. St. Lucy’s-St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church closed in 2010.