A retired elementary school teacher from Long Island has been arrested on charges he sexually abused students decades ago.
Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Dana Castaldo said that Thomas Bernagozzi, 75, faces counts of sexual conduct against a child and sodomy relating to two students, one in 1989 and one in 1997, Newsday reported.
Suffolk Police launched the investigation the two students reported the sexual abuse. They were among 45 students who filed suit — under New York’s Child Victims Act, which opened a temporary window to sue for damages beyond the statute of limitations — against the Bay Shore school district for failing to protect them from Bernagozzi’s abuse.
More than 200 lawsuits were filed in Long Island under the act. While several have been settled, the 45 suits regarding Bernagozzi have not. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told WABC that the statute of limitations has passed for most of the students in the lawsuits, but not the two from 1989 and 1997.
In both of those instances, Castaldo said in court, the children were not in Bernagozzi’s class, Newsday said. the prosecutor said the 1989 victim was a 4-year-old in pre-K whose brother was in Bernagozzi’s third grad class. The 1997 victim was in a different third grade class but spent extracurricular time with Bernagozzi.
Castaldo also said that both students spent a great deal of time with Bernagozzi over the years, traveling to beaches, pools, and even Broadway plays.
Bernagozzi pleaded not guilty in court last week and was released with a GPS monitor and no bond.
“These are over 25 years old, these allegations,” Eric Besso, Bernagozzi’s court-appointed defense attorney, said in court while requesting his release from custody.
Bernagozzi retired in 2000.
In the 45 lawsuits filed against the school district, the district countersued against Bernagozzi, claiming that he, and not the administration, should be held responsible. The lawsuits accuse the school district of condoning Bernagozzi’s behavior.
Attorneys representing the 45 students described the arrest as good news for their clients.
“It’s a long time coming, and they’re very happy that this many years later the authorities are hearing them,” said Jeff Herman, who is representing 43 of the students. “It’s one piece of seeking justice for these clients.”
Josh Silber, who represents two of the students, said the arrest is “welcome news to survivors” and “a start on the path to justice.”
“It reminds us of the Bay Shore School District’s decades long attempt to protect the abuser rather than the students in their care,” said Silber. “A school’s primary mission is the safety of the children placed in its care, and Bay Shore completely ignored this responsibility.”
According to Newsday, the lawsuits say that district employees had warned students in the early 1980s not to be alone with Bernagozzi, but administrators still allowed him to continue a male-only after school program after a parent reported sexual abuse in the mid-1980s.
District employees warned students in the early 1980s to avoid being alone with Bernagozzi, and administrators allowed the teacher to continue a male-only after-school program after a parent reported sexual abuse of a child in the mid-80s, according to the lawsuits.
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[Featured image: Thomas Bernagozzi/Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office]
