Gridder abused B’klyn prep school hit in ‘look-back’ sex claim
The teenager enrolled in a Bible study class, only to find his teacher was a sinner.
A newly filed sexual abuse lawsuit recounts how a former Poly Prep high school football star was allegedly kissed, groped and rubbed by a predatory Episcopal priest teaching at the scandal-scarred Brooklyn school in the mid-1970s.
The plaintiff, identified only as John Doe, was “filled with confusion, anxiety and self-loathing,” read the 16page Brooklyn Supreme Court suit filed Tuesday. “He had suicidal thoughts as a way to make the pain and shame stop .… He was haunted by the fact that the first person that ever kissed him was [his teacher].”
The accuser, now more than 60 years old, was just 15 when he was first targeted over a two-year period, according to the lawsuit. He told no one about what happened for decades, but finally filed his suit 43 years after graduation as part of the Child Victims Act look-back period.
When the first incident occurred during his junior year in a class called “Bible as Literature,” the since-deceased priest held the young student while pressing up against the teen’s torso and genitals in a Poly Prep classroom, with the terrified teen finally breaking down in tears, the lawsuit alleges.
A year later, the teacher invited the student to his Manhattan apartment and tried to engage in oral sex with the youth, the suit says.
“[The priest] stated that sex between then would be an activity of spirituality and religiosity,” the lawsuit alleged. “He told [the victim] that St. Thomas was Jesus’ lover, and that such love was beautiful and divine .… [The victim] was extremely disturbed by the incident.”
Poly Prep reached a 2012 settlement with a dozen other sexual abuse victims, all targeted by longtime school football coach Phil Foglietta over a 25-year stretch at the Brooklyn school.
“We care deeply about our alumni, and we are heartbroken that a student may have been a victim of abuse,” said Head of School Audrius Barzdukas in a statement. “We remain committed to learning about their experiences, and we welcome the chance to engage with them directly.
“Over the past decade, we have taken steps and instituted best practices toward the goal of having our school be a model educational environment in terms of safety and abuse prevention. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority.”
In the case filed Tuesday, the plaintiff also accused Foglietta of mistreatment once the student became aware of the coach’s sexual targeting of players on the team.
The head coach even undermined the student’s hope of a college football scholarship after he was named a Daily News All-New York City Honorable Mention player, the lawsuit alleges.