176 Alleged New York Child Molesters from Catholic Institutions Publicly Named for First Time
On July 14, the law firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates released a comprehensive report based on public data detailing newly identified alleged perpetrators in Catholic institutions across New York. Through this report, it became evident that two lawsuits had been filed by another law firm alleging that Robert Caldera, the former Executive Director of the Catholic Youth Organization for the Diocese of Brooklyn, was accused of child sexual abuse.
(New York) – For the first time, the names of nearly 180 New York alleged child molesters affiliated with Catholic institutions were released publicly today. Each person on the list was recently named in civil suits brought by survivors of child sexual abuse. The suits were filed under the New York Child Victims Act (NY CVA).
Among the newly named are Catholic priests, church officials, church employees, coaches, teachers, and other people who have worked with kids. Some accusations go back decades. Others were raised in the 2000s, raising an important question: Which accused child molesters pose active risks to children?
Among those named, for example, is Robert Caldera, who is the former director of sports programs for the Catholic Youth Organization of Brooklyn and Queens, despite being accused of child sexual abuse in two (2) New York Child Victims Act lawsuits.
The critical task now is identifying active threats to kids and alerting parents as quickly as possible, according to Jeff Anderson & Associates, a U.S. law firm representing sexual abuse survivors. To do that, Anderson’s firm is launching an unprecedented ad campaign seeking New Yorkers’ help in determining alleged child molesters that are alive and have access to children.
“From decades of work bringing sexual abusers to justice, we know child molesters often continue preying on children until the legal system stops them,” said Jeff Anderson. “These predators hide their crimes and disguise themselves as devoted priests, coaches, and leaders. We released these names to help parents but determining which of these alleged child molesters is an active threat to kids is urgent and all-important. We need the public’s help.”
The digital ad campaign will run for the next 25 days on a variety of websites that New Yorkers rely on for information about their community. The list of 176 names can be found here. The digital campaign is using Facebook and other platforms to ask the public for help in identifying threats to kids.
“Survivors gain tremendous healing when they have the ability to come forward in the courts and expose what happened to them,” said Joelle Casteix, a survivor of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church who used a law similar to the New York CVA to publicly name and sue the man who abused her. That man was still working with children in another state and Casteix was able to warn the community and his employer. “But just like in my case, New York will rely on community members to look closely at the names of the accused, look at the adults in their youth-serving organizations, and take a stand to make sure that accused child predators are not tolerated and not welcome to be around kids. It takes all of us to keep kids safe.”
For child sex abuse survivors in New York, time is of the essence. Child sex abuse survivors only have until August 13 to file a claim and hold abusers accountable before crimes are buried beneath the statute of limitations.