Two more alleged victims came forward on Thursday with decades-old accusations against the Diocese of Brooklyn that they suffered sexual abuse by clergy and other church employees when they were children.
The two accusers filed suit in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Thursday, the latest in a wave of sex abuse lawsuits brought against the Diocese of Brooklyn and other organizations since the Child Victims Act went into effect on Aug. 14.
Since then, according to court records, at least 47 alleged victims have filed suit against the Diocese of Brooklyn in Brooklyn and Bronx courts.
As for the latest suits filed in Brooklyn, in one of the cases a 74-year-old victim identified in court papers as J.D. said that he endured abuse by Father Sylvester Marsh of the St. Matthias Roman Catholic Church in the early 1950s and that the abuse began when J.D. was only 7 years old.
J.D. says Marsh, who according to court papers died in 1984, abused him at summer sleepaway camps and on the New York City subway during day trips.
“The Diocese of Brooklyn knew for decades that its priests, clergy, seminarians, religious brothers, religious sisters, school administrators, teachers, employees, and volunteers were using their positions within the Diocese of Brooklyn to groom and to sexually abuse children,” the lawsuit states.
“Despite that knowledge, the Diocese of Brooklyn failed to take reasonable steps to protect children from being sexually abused and actively concealed the abuse.”
The diocese, in a statement, said it “takes all allegations of sexual abuse seriously. On these specific cases, we cannot comment because they are pending litigation. What we can tell you is that today the Diocese of Brooklyn has among the most aggressive policies when it comes to child protection. They include a Zero Tolerance policy which states that any clergy member credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor is permanently removed from ministry.”
In the other suit, Frank Caputo alleges that Robert Mistretta, a baseball coach at Nazareth High School in East Flatbush, abused him in 1973 when Caputo was 16 years old.
Caputo says that Mistretta sexually abused at least four other fellow students when they were also minors. Mistretta could not be reached for comment.
In 2008, The Post reported that Mistretta was still working for the school. According to Caputo’s suit, Mistretta resigned after learning that he was the target of an investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
The Child Victims Act opened a one-year “look-back window” for victims to bring lawsuits against abusers regardless of the age of the victim or their allegations. Since the law went into effect, the Boy Scouts of America has also been swamped with sex abuse suits.