Sep 19, 2018 / 09:53 am
The Diocese of Brooklyn and an after-school program reached a $27.5 million settlement Tuesday with four men who were sexually abused as minors by a layman who volunteered at a parish in the New York City borough.
The men were abused between 2003 and 2009 by Angelo Serrano, 67, who taught catechism and helped to organized religious education at St. Lucy – St. Patrick's parish in Brooklyn. Serrano abused the boys, who were between the ages of 8 and 12, at the church, in his apartment, and at the after-school program. Serrano received a stipend from the church, and had a desk there.
"The diocese and another defendant have settled these lawsuits brought by the four claimants who were sexually abused by Angelo Serrano at his private apartment many years ago," the Brooklyn diocese said in a Sept. 18 statement, the New York Times reported. "Mr. Serrano was a volunteer worker at a local parish; he was not clergy or an employee of the diocese or parish."
A portion of the settlement is being paid by the Dorothy Bennett Mercy Center, an after-school program located next to the parish.