Romanucci & Blandin files childhood sexual abuse lawsuits and claims against Archdiocese of New York, Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Rockville Centre and a Boy Scouts Local Council

Romanucci & Blandin, LLC  announces the filing of five childhood sexual abuse lawsuits; one against the Archdiocese of New York, three against the Diocese of Brooklyn, and one lawsuit against a Boy Scout Local Council in New York. The firm also filed a sexual abuse claim against the Diocese of Rockville Central, New York, in United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York. The perpetrators in these cases are several New York priests and a Garden City Park Boy Scout troop leader. The lawsuits were filed in August 2021 under the New York Child Victims Act.

The first lawsuit is against the Archdiocese of New York on behalf of an altar boy who was sexually abused for years by two priests at a parish in Staten Island. The abuse took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The first perpetrator was defrocked priest Father David Carson. The second perpetrator was convicted child molester Father Morgan Kuhl. Father Kuhl was arrested by the FBI in October 1999 after he allegedly showed up for a meeting at a Perth Amboy ball field in an attempt to meet with a minor “boy” who was actually an undercover federal agent. Father Kuhl pleaded guilty to a charge of traveling across state lines to have sex with a minor.

Three of the lawsuits are against the Diocese of Brooklyn. The first is on behalf of a former altar boy who was sexually abused by Monsignor Nicholas Capua in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Monsignor Capua was eventually placed on administrative leave and barred from ministry in 2007 after the Diocese found “credible allegations” that Capua had sexually abused several minors in the 1970s.

The other two lawsuits against the Diocese of Brooklyn are filed on behalf of two former minor parishioners. One of the perpetrators was Father James Lara, who was laicized and removed from ministry and contact with children at the Church in 2007. The other perpetrator was Father Gennaro Simonetti, who has also been accused of abusing numerous boys participating in after school programs within his parish and the associated schools.

The lawsuit against Boy Scouts Theodore Roosevelt Council involved a former Cub Scout who was sexually abused for approximately two years in the late 1970s by his assistant scout leader. The abuse occurred before and after Cub Scout meetings, and during an overnight camping trip. 

The claim against the Diocese of Rockville Centre in the Southern District of New York was on behalf of an aspiring altar boy who was sexually abused by Father Alfred Soave at a Catholic elementary school in Huntington Station, New York. In 2002, a grand jury was convened to investigate the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations. Father Alfred Soave is listed on the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s 2021 List of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor. 

The Plaintiffs are represented by Romanucci & Blandin Senior Attorney Jason J. Friedl and others, alongside local counsel Jeremy Gorfinkel of the Law Offices of Michael Dreishpoon.

“We are proud of our New York survivors who demonstrated immense courage in confronting and exposing their abusers. As innocent children, they had endured some of the worst abuses imaginable. Without question, their courage and the courage of all the other survivors will help protect the next generation of children by forcing institutions to have zero tolerance when it comes to sexual abuse of children,” said Jason J. Friedl, Romanucci & Blandin.

To learn more about legal options when someone has suffered sexual abuse  or interpersonal violence please visit: https://www.rblaw.net/practices-sexual-abuse-hazing-cases