Category Archive for : ‘LONG ISLAND NEWS’

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

Bishop William Murphy, who heads the Catholic diocese on Long Island, has purged two top aides, including a close Rudy Giuliani pal, from their jobs and from a team handling cases against priests accused of child molestation.  His move follows criticism of the Diocese of Rockville Centre for how it has dealt with sex abuse cases, and news that a special Suffolk County grand jury will investigate how they were handled.  Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota said he believes church officials covered up for child abusing priests.  Murphy booted Monsignor

Ronald Stores, a convicted rapist, was placed in temporary housing in Centereach in February by Suffolk County.  Police were required to go door-to-door to tell neighbors that a sex offender was in their area but police and angry neighbors could do nothing about where the county had found him housing, across the street from North Coleman Road Elementary School.  Legislator Joseph Caracappa (R-Selden) announced yesterday a resolution designed to prevent the scene in Centereach from repeating itself.  It would prevent the county from providing housing to sex offenders within 1,000

Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon, the second law enforcement official on Long Island to acknowledge serving a subpoena to the diocese, said his office has subpoenaed information from the Diocese of Rockville Centre about sexual abuse complaints made against Long Island priests.  Two weeks ago, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota noted that his office had subpoenaed information.

(New York)

Newsday/Steve Wick

Rev. Angelo Ditta was removed from active duty just two weeks after Bishop William Murphy saidthere were no credible allegations of sexual abuse against any active priest on Long Island. Thediocese has removed Ditta based on a complaint it has been aware of since 1997. Ditta moved to St.Margaret of Scotland in Selden and Matthew Mosher, who was molested by him beginning when he was 9,would visit Ditta and serve Mass with him.

Last week, the diocese also removed the Rev. Eugene Vollmer, an associate pastor at St. James inSeaford,

Bradley Kurtzberg, 33, a divorce attorney from Melville, was arrested at a mall in Paramus, New Jersey where he had allegedly arranged to meet 15 year old April for a sexual encounter.  April was not a 15 year old, she was a member of an FBI task force whose duties include trolling cyberspace for sexual predators.  He told April that he would be gentle and would bring protection for her first time.  He pleaded guilty last year to one count of transporting child pornography and has been sentenced to 22