Author Archive

In a letter to be read in all New York Archdiocese churches this weekend, Edward Cardinal Egan makes a qualified apology for any mistakes he may have made dealing with sex-predator priests in New York and in his old job as bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Egan said, Over the past 15 years, in both Bridgeport and New York, I consistently sought and acted upon the best independent advice available to me from medical experts and behavioral scientists.  It is clear that today we have a much better understanding of this

New York Post/Eric Lenkowitz, John Lehmann and Dan Mangan

Pangratios Vrionis, a 58 year old archbishop of an Orthodox church in Queens, was bustedyesterday on child sex assault charges, just weeks after The Post exposed him as a convictedmolester. He is accused of molesting a then 14 year old boy on February 1, 1999. Vrionis showed theboy, who was a student of his, a gay pornographic movie and then touched him sexually by puttinghis hand inside the boy’s pants. The boy and his mother recently told The Post about the allegedassault

Tara McDermott, a 23 year old Bronx teacher’s aide, has been charged with rape, sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child for alleged involvement with four boys.  She had an affair with a 13-year-old student and then had sex with three of his 13-year-old friends to get revenge after he broke up with her.  She started an affair with the first 13 years old in January when she took him to a movie on Super Bowl Sunday.  She was infatuated with this boy.  Soon they started having sex and

Steven Reyes, a 23 year old Freeport man, was arraigned yesterday in First District Court in Hempstead on charges that he sexually abused his half-sister’s 12 year old playmate.  Police say Reyes, who lives at 279 Branch Street, sodomized the girl early Saturday morning while the girl and another 12 year old friend had come to the house for a sleep-over.  The three friends slept in a bedroom with an aunt who was watching the girls.  Reyes entered the bedroom some time around 3 a.m. and began to sodomize the

Robert Ellis, a 53 year old convicted child molester and former softball coach of the  Connecticut Express independent traveling softball team, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Daniel Brennan Jr. to 30 years in prison, suspended after 18 served, and 35 years on probation.  He had faced up to 117 years in prison.  His attorney said he plans to appeal the 18 year sentence.  In February, a six-member jury found Ellis, of Valley Road, Shelton, guilty of sexually molesting and harassing four teen-age girls, including three who played on his

State and local officials have been investigating for the past several weeks whether a 17 year old girl placed at Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center in late February was raped by a male patient in a ward bathroom.  No arrests have been made but the girl’s claims have prompted independent reviews by two state agencies, the Office of Mental Health and the Commission on Quality of Care, which are awaiting Suffolk’s findings.  The teenager’s transfer from a children’s psychiatric center in Queens by the state to the Brentwood hospital also has