On January 21, 2015 a civil lawsuit was filed in Nassau County, New York on behalf of a young woman who alleges she was sexually abused by Father Gregory Yacyshyn when she was a young parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Greenlawn, New York. Defendants in the lawsuit include the Diocese of Rockville Centre and Father Gregory Yacyshyn.
In January 2003 a Grand Jury was empanelled in Suffolk County, New York to investigate the Diocese of Rockville Centre, its priests and parishes. The investigation concluded that priests in the Rockville Centre Diocese committed criminal acts including the sexual abuse of minors and violated numerous statutes designed to protect the health, safety and welfare of children. The officials in the diocese failed to protect children, ignored credible complaints of sexual abuse and failed to act on obvious warning signs of sexual abuse. Diocesan officials also conceived and agreed to a plan using deception and intimidation to prevent victims from seeking legal solutions to their problems.
This brave survivor has chosen to step forward and share her story to ensure other survivors of sexual abuse and children are protected in the future.