SISTERS TELL GRAND JURY OF PRIEST ABUSE

Donna Nichols and her younger sister Darlene LoSordo told a grand jury yesterday how they were repeatedly abused as teenage girls by the same Roman Catholic priest, Nicholas Unterstein, at a Huntington Station parish more than 30 years ago.  While Unterstein cannot face criminal prosecution, Nichols, now 48, of East Northport, said testifying gave her a sense of freedom.  Unterstein can't be criminally prosecuted for raping the sisters because so much time has passed.  And the diocese can't be made financially liable for his actions.  Nichols quietly received a civil settlement in 2000 after several years of battling the diocese in court.  But her sister, who just recently came forward, was told by the diocese this spring -- after the issue of sexual abuse by priests had become a national scandal -- that no more settlements would be made.

(New York)