St. Francis Prep Community, Here is More Information on Brother Dominic Quigley, Brother Ben O'Reilly, and Brother DeSales Pergola

Update 10/1/2014: Brother Dominic Quigley Removed from American Martyrs Parish

Some of you may be aware at this point that former St. Francis Prep teacher Brother Dominic Quigley was at least temporarily removed from his duties as Sacristan at American Martyrs Church this past weekend because of the child sexual abuse investigation we initiated with the Diocese of Brooklyn. Thank God for that! It was a long time coming, as you're about to see.

A very distinguished classmate of mine named John Cardillo from the Class of 1987 read the last blog I wrote, after I posted it on the Class of 1987 group page on Facebook. John has been featured on The Blaze with Glenn Beck, and he owns his own company which, among other things, tracks pedophiles for companies that cater to children, such as Disney. He is also a political analyst and commentator.

John and I had not spoken in 27 years. He reached out to me and had a lot to say about the three men mentioned in the title of this blog. He also wants you to know that he will help me any way that he can and he is sickened by what has transpired at St. Francis Prep.

In John's own words:

"So here are the incidents I recall. Too many to count with Br. Dom. Initially, he was verbally inappropriate with me. He invited me after hours to his residence upstairs multiple times, and I refused. Finally I told him that I told my mother and that we were both uncomfortable. It stopped soon thereafter.

Once, when he (Br. Dom) came back from vacation, I was coming in from track practice. It was just him, me, and another guy (I forget who). He hugged me very long and inappropriately. Too tight and close. I was taken off guard, so I told both Mr. Abruzzo (Dean of Men) and Len Antinori (Cor Teacher) and both laughed it off and told me I was making too much of it. When I persisted, Abruzzo actually took me seriously. He basically said that I should stay away from Br. Dom and report anything inappropriate in writing, with a copy kept by my parents. Antinori, however, told me to stop being a trouble maker and really gave me a hard time.

Br. Ben O'Reilly should never have been working around kids. I witnessed his verbal and physical (non sexual) abuse too many times to count. He threatened me on more than one occasion because I commented on his lewd comments to female students. The nature of the threats was bizarre. I recall his face turning red and him describing, in specific detail, how he wanted to strangle me until I died and the pleasure he would take in watching the life drain from me. Now color me reactionary, but I found that an odd way to speak to a 16 year old.

I never had much interaction with Br. DeSales. But I remember him making lewd comments about penis size to me and other guys, and slapping guys across the butt with the cord around his habit (whatever that thing is called)."

Please note that John is not the gentleman I mentioned in the previous blog, from the Class of 1989, who also came forward with information about Brs. Dom and DeSales.  John Cardillo and I graduated in 1987, so these incidents took place prior to June, 1987. By the way, the current investigation regarding Br. Dom revolves around alleged misconduct in 2003.

Felicia Mooradian's problems with Br. Ben occurred in 2006. In the school's defamation lawsuit against her, one of SFP's allegations (which Felicia says is about Br. Ben) is as follows:

"Defendant (Felicia) falsely states that "she was sexually harassed and terrorized" by a former teacher of St. Francis Preparatory. Defendant then states that Defendant had to endure bullying as a result of that same teacher being removed from teaching."

So it seems SFP is saying Felicia lied when she said Br. Ben sexually harassed and terrorized her, and that he subsequently bullied her after he was removed from teaching.

Maybe St. Francis Prep needs to talk to John Cardillo about what kind of man Br. Ben is. Otherwise, they can hear it from him on the witness stand.

St. Francis Prep Graduate Alleges Sexual Abuse by Former St. Francis Prep Teacher Brother Dominic Quigley; Investigation Initiated by Diocese (Warning: Graphic Content)

10/1/2014: Update, please read: Brother Dominic Quigley Removed From American Martyrs Parish

Some of my blogs are serious, some are sarcastic, but I would like to think they all say something that needs to be said. There is a lot that must be said today.

First I want everyone to know that St. Francis Prep thought it was a good idea to sue 22 year old college student Felicia Mooradian for defamation. How did this come about, you ask? Well, Felicia is the plaintiff in the lawsuit involving Assistant Principal Christopher Mendolia and former teacher Fernando Sicilia, and, if you recall, the plaintiff in the lawsuit regarding Brother Ben O'Reilly that was filed last year. The school's attorney and Felicia's attorney had scheduled a settlement conference in the matter involving Mendolia/Sicilia (they were already discussing settlement terms), and in preparation for that meeting, she had written a statement of her allegations that was to form the basis of her official lawsuit complaint if no settlement was reached. Felicia's lawyer sent this document to the school's attorney.

What seems to have happened was that this document was subsequently sent to two members of the school's Board of Trustees, Joanne Persico and Sr. Loretta McGrann, and the Chairman of the Capital Campaign, John Brown, along with a plea to them to please do something about alleged continual sexual harassment of students at St. Francis Prep.

In its lawsuit, Prep has accused Felicia of "leaking" the document to these three people (who obviously all work for the school), and consequently sued her over it, even though it was sent to people who, in my opinion, should know what it says. Logically, I would think that if the school was about to enter a settlement conference with Felicia over the matter, ALL the members of the Board should have seen her allegations way before the document was forwarded to some of them allegedly by someone who does not work for the school. In fact, I can't think of a single reason that the school would be upset about its own Board of Trustees knowing about a potential lawsuit involving its Assistant Principal of Faculty and Instruction. Can you?

Just so you know, this "Franciscan" institution despite the fact it knew Felicia is represented by Attorney Kevin Mulhearn, and where his is located, and how to reach him, attempted to serve her personally with the lawsuit summons and complaint at her parents' apartment at 10:00 pm on a Saturday night, waking up her mother and 7 year old brother. In my opinion, that sounds a lot like harassment.

In response to the defamation suit against her, Felicia's lawyer did not make a motion to dismiss the case, as Prep has done with every lawsuit filed against it to date. What he did was file an answer to it, and a counterclaim for a frivolous lawsuit. In other words, Felicia wants to litigate it.

This is a beautifully inspired strategy for two reasons:

First, by suing Felicia, the school handed this young woman her day in court - which she is quite happy about. Even if her lawsuits against the school are dismissed, she can now still take the stand and talk about everything she's wanted to talk about  regarding what she experienced at SFP - Br. Ben, Mendolia, Sicilia, the lot of it, including an art teacher who was suddenly fired in 2006. In addition, she can call witnesses - like Marla Krolikowski - who happened to make a documentary in the 90's about the sexual harassment of students at St. Francis Prep. This documentary was played for the entire faculty back then at an assembly - and from what I have been told, the film will be relevant at this trial, some 20 years later. I hope I get to testify, too. I have quite a bit to say at this point. And good for you, Felicia, they can't shut you up now.

Secondly, in June, 2013, the school's servers were hacked by a Saudi hacking group. "Group HP-Hack" stole the SFP database of email usernames and passwords, and passed them on to other parties. An article about this can be found here:

St. Francis Prep Hacked

I do remember the school's Google listing had a "this site may be hacked" warning on it for 8 or 9 months or so, beginning around June, 2013, when the first lawsuits were filed against the school. By chance, I happened to Google "St. Francis Prep hacked" the other day and found the above link. What's also interesting is that this past March, I received an email from an unknown source telling me that the security of my personal email accounts, as well as Felicia's, were compromised, and suggesting that we both create new email accounts and encrypt all our emails. Hmmm, who do you think sent Felicia's allegations to the board members?

As a lawyer with 20 years of experience, if I were to offer my opinion as to why the school sued Felicia, I would say that, in my opinion, they were hoping she would drop her lawsuit against Mr. Mendolia. I would give the opinion that they were perhaps hoping for a swap - Felicia would drop her lawsuit and they would drop theirs. IF that's actually the case, well then,  OOPS, I guess she doesn't give a crap.

Also a few months ago, after I published the blog that discussed the movie "inspired by true events" that my business partner, Nick Deninno and I have in pre-production,
(Prep: The Movie, http://www.prepthemovie.com/ ) an SFP graduate, John Bennett, Class of 1998, who works in the film industry contacted me asking if he could work on it with us. In our discussions, he revealed to me that he had been sexually harassed and abused by Br. DeSales Pergola when he was a student library assistant. John states that in addition to repeatedly asking him whether he was "jerking off," Br. DeSales pressured John to allow him to rub John's crotch and did touch and/or rub John's crotch on numerous occasions. While I was investigating Br. DeSales, I was not surprised to find out that he was bounced around quite a bit during his career. His bio is here:

Br. DeSales bio

Br. DeSales eventually wound up working in the St. Francis Prep library, like ex-social studies teacher turned librarian Robert Stenger, who was regarded by both teachers and students as a pervert and a creep. Is this coincidence? Or was the SFP library the dumping ground for perverts? I guess we shall see.

In addition, while all this other stuff was going on, a graduate from the class of 2004 read my blogs and reached out to me with some very upsetting information. This alum told me that when he was a student at SFP, his friend (who was also a student at SFP) had told him that he had a sexual encounter with Br. Dominic Quigley (who taught at St. Francis Prep for more than 30 years). He had lost contact with his friend, but told me how to find him on Facebook - which I did.

Just to back-track a little at this point, I want everyone to know that two of the statements the school is alleging are defamatory (defamatory means not true) and is alleging were made by Felicia with "malice" in its lawsuit against her are: "SEXUAL HARASSMENT BY TEACHERS NEEDS TO STOP AT SFP. DO SOMETHING" and "SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT SFP IS A HUGE PROBLEM." (I would have attached the school's official complaint here, but Felicia and I already used it for toilet paper.)

That being said, here is a quick summary of this young man's ALLEGATIONS regarding Br. Dominic Quigley. He alleges that in 2003:
1) He and Br. Dom manually stimulated each other's genitals and had more than one sexual encounter on school property;
2) Br. Dom asked the boy if Br. Dom could perform fellatio on him;
3) Br. Dom asked the boy to penetrate Br. Dom's anus with his penis.

Br. DeSales died in 2011. However, Br. Dom now works for the Diocese of Brooklyn. He is the Sacristan at American Martyr's Church (SFP Chaplain Fr. Bill Sweeney's parish) in Bayside. My understanding is Br. Dom works with altar boys and CCD kids there. Interestingly, the monsignor of American Martyrs was removed in 2007 as a result of an investigation by the diocese into allegations of sex abuse. See here:

American Martyrs Monsignor Removed for Sex Abuse

The reason I use the formal term "allegations" above when discussing the current situation with Br. Dom is that we have already requested that the diocese investigate Br. Dom, based upon the statements provided by this young man. It is by the grace of God that Br. Dom works for the diocese. If he were still working at Prep (which is not under the control of the diocese), Prep could have, if it wanted to, dismissed what this young man has to say, perhaps painted him as a weirdo or loon, perhaps not taken any action against Br. Dom, or even quietly transferred him to another high school. The diocese, however, is obligated to investigate once they are informed of these types of allegations. They even have a sex abuse hotline set up for this purpose (888-634-4499). And just in case you were wondering, yes, this man gave a description of Br. Dom's penis.

What is even more disturbing to me is that other graduates have contacted me about Br. DeSales and Br. Dom. One of these gentlemen is a graduate of the class of 1989. He contacted me almost two years ago and told me that Br. DeSales would frequently stop him in the library and inquire about the cleanliness of his genitals and ask him whether he was engaging in oral sex. This same man told me Br. Dom once brought him up to the Brothers' residence on the 3rd floor of the school and took him to his bedroom. That conversation put Br. DeSales and Br. Dom on my radar - and there they have stayed these past two years. In case you haven't noticed, being on my radar is a very bad thing, especially if I have the impression that an individual has hurt or been sexually inappropriate with students. Someone in the social studies department was on my radar as well - he started a romantic relationship with a senior in 2009. I was quite happy to learn that he is finally not teaching at Prep this year.

As a general statement, I would like to say that if you are a faculty or staff member who has information about certain events, who knew about certain things when they were happening and did nothing except gossip about them, or who, as a mandated reporter, should have called the authorities and didn't, and instead turned a blind eye and perhaps still do so you can collect your paycheck, I want you to know that you are on my radar. You are the reason the name of this blog and website are apropos. You can continue to pat yourselves on the back under the guise of being an educator, but someone who truly cares about children opens their mouth and does the right thing. You know if this shoe fits. God help you if it does.

I also want to make this clear to everyone: No one I have mentioned in this blog is afraid of St. Francis Prep. No one cares about what bullshit tactics or strategies they may use to try and get other people to back down and shut up. President Brother Leonard Conway and Principal Patrick McLaughlin, in my opinion, will never have half the good character of any of these people who have come forward with their stories of harassment and abuse.

Making sure children are protected is the main goal of all these SFP graduates. More people coming forward will inevitably follow until certain parties resign and better measures are put in place to protect children. To that end, I hope you agree it's time for a full 40 year investigation of St. Francis Prep. The only people who would be against such an idea are people who have something to hide. What needs to be created is an open forum for graduates to come forward before a third party without fear of retaliation or liability so they can tell their stories.

I feel strongly that this day will come, and I am hoping quite soon.

St. Francis Prep Lawsuit Update and Some Additional News About Allegedly Perverted Brothers

Today Judge Sterling Johnson announced his decision in the original three lawsuits filed in June, 2013 by Felicia Mooradian, Mark Evangelista, and me.

Regarding Felicia's and Mark's lawsuits, the Judge said St. Francis Prep does not receive any federal funding and so these cannot be federal lawsuits. They have 30 days to re-file in state court, and Attorney Kevin Mulhearn will be doing that.

Regarding my defamation lawsuit against the school, Judge Johnson stated that Br. Leonard's statement in the letter the school had sent out in Jan. 2013 implying that the purpose of my blogs "is to bully, convey hatred, or to spread malicious lies and unsubstantiated rumors" was a statement of opinion by Br. Leonard, and statements of opinion are not defamatory. Therefore, he granted the school's motion to dismiss my case.

I will be appealing this decision. I would also like to add that no one has ever sued me about a single thing I have said. In fact, the statute of limitations has already run out on anyone suing me regarding the most inflammatory blogs I've written.

I also want everyone to know that I am going to keep doing what I am doing. I am going to blog, and I am going to keep my website up, and I am going to keep investigating what people tell me. This is why: two men contacted me recently about what they are alleging are their experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of two Franciscan Brothers when they were students at St. Francis Prep. Each man alleges that the abuse occurred on several occasions with his respective abuser. One of these Brothers is deceased, and the other is alive and well, working at Franciscan educational institutions, and a parish near the school. I promptly put these men in contact with Attorney Kevin Mulhearn, and we all will be hearing more about their allegations in the coming weeks. I will tell you this for now - the deceased Brother in question is Brother DeSales Pergola - and this is the second complaint I've received about him.

I would like to leave you with this post made on my website recently by a gentleman who graduated in the Class of 1974, and who now is a college professor:

"I was in the graduating class of 1974, the last Brooklyn class. I thought when females were students things would improve. How wrong I was. In Brooklyn there was brutality, harassment of all kinds, homophobia, drug selling and abuse and more. Much from the students but if you were an athlete you had free rein. I tell stories and people think I'm making it up. You can't make this stuff up. I was personally threatened with beatings from brothers but let it be known there would be payback so they left me alone. But above all they protected the brand and acted as if they were good Christians. True, there were good people but they were overwhelmed by the bad. It all changed when a student decked a teacher however. Like all bullies they backed away. Keep fighting, the best way to get rid of roaches is to turn the light on. The people trying to improve the situation are the good guys."

That really sums it up nicely. We'll have more information for you soon.

An Amendment, Some Developments, and Hashtags

Attorney Kevin Mulhearn filed an amended complaint today for the last St. Francis Prep lawsuit he filed, (the one with allegations regarding Assistant Principal Christopher Mendolia and former teacher Fernando Sicilia) adding a cause of action for breach of contract. Here is that new, amended portion of the complaint.

AS AND FOR A SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION:

BREACH OF CONTRACT: AGAINST DEFENDANT, ST. FRANCIS PREP

135. Plaintiff repeats and realleges paragraphs “1 through 134” herein as of each has been fully set forth at length.

136. At all material times, Plaintiff had an implied contract with ST. FRANCIS PREP to the extent that if she paid the requisite tuition and fees and complied with all terms prescribed by the school, she would obtain a high school degree.

137. Additional terms of the implied contract between ST. FRANCIS PREP and Plaintiff were supplied by bulletins, circulars, regulations, and website materials, supplied to Plaintiff by ST. FRANCIS PREP.

138. ST. FRANCIS PREP’s Mission Statement, which was in place and published to students (including Plaintiff) at all material times, provided, inter alia, that the school and its family would “treat [students] with respect and dignity” and “create an environment filled with academic success, respect, integrity, and joy.”

139. ST. FRANCIS PREP’s Faculty Handbook provides, inter alia, that faculty members “shall not intentionally expose the student to embarrassment, disparagement, or abusive language,” “shall not use professional relationships with students for private advantage,” shall “make reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to learning or to health and safety” and shall “manifest peace, love, and respect for the individual.”

140. The implied covenant between Plaintiff and ST. FRANCIS PREP, therefore, mandated that ST. FRANCIS PREP and its officials and faculty: (1) treat students (including Plaintiff) with respect, integrity and dignity, (2) create a school environment filled with, inter alia, respect and integrity, (3) not intentionally expose students (including Plaintiff) to embarrassment, disparagement, or abusive language, (4) not use professional relationships with students (such as Plaintiff) for private advantage, and (5) not create, foster, or exacerbate conditions harmful to students’ (including Plaintiff’s) ability to learn, or to their health and safety.

141. For the reasons set forth herein, Defendant, ST. FRANCIS PREP, violated its implied contract with Plaintiff, by engaging in conduct, acts, and omission which violated each and every one of the above-described terms of the implied contract between ST. FRANCIS PREP and Plaintiff.

142. Plaintiff, at all material times, fulfilled each and every one of her obligations under her implied contract with ST. FRANCIS PREP.

143. As a direct and proximate result of ST. FRANCIS PREP’s above-described conduct, acts and/or omissions, Plaintiff suffered significant harm, including but not limited to lost tuition and other school-related expenses, severe emotional distress and pain and suffering, medical care costs, and costs incurred for necessary counseling.

WHEREFORE, based on the aforesaid, Plaintiff hereby demands judgment in her favor and against each of the Defendants, jointly and severally, as follows:

1. As and for Plaintiff’s First Cause of Action, Fraud (Against Defendants, ST. FRANCIS PREP,  BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY, and PATRICK McLAUGHLIN), a sum to be determined at trial as and for compensatory damages, and a sum to be determined at trial as and for punitive damages;

2. As and for Plaintiff’s Second Cause of Action, Breach of Contract (Against Defendant, ST. FRANCIS PREP, a sum to be determined at trial as and for compensatory damages; and

3. Any other, different or further relief as this Honorable Court may deem just, proper or necessary.

An interesting thing happened when I posted the blog with the original complaint involving allegations regarding Assistant Principal Christopher Mendolia and former teacher Fernando Sicilia. Three St. Francis Prep graduates contacted me telling me their stories - which ultimately resulted in the three of them calling Kevin Mulhearn expressing a desire to pursue their legal rights. Two of them allegedly experienced very inappropriate behavior from one particular current department Chairperson. One of them allegedly had horrific experiences with a Franciscan brother - (it's not Michael Moran, just in case you were wondering. One of Moran's victims did reach out to me, though.)

All signs are pointing to my having something interesting to copy and paste here in July.

This really was just a matter of time, because when the Daily News Article was published last year at this time, six SFP graduates called Kevin Mulhearn. For old times' sake, here's the link to that article:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/claims-abuse-suit-st-francis-prep-article-1.1371212

On another note, the hashtags people are posting on our BRH website are hilarious - e.g. #Americarunsondunkin. I am guessing this arose as a result of the hashtag sketch in the 2014 SFP senior video.

All that fun prompted me to create a couple of my own special hashtags here:

#truthbetold #JustinTime #gosuckanegg - some of you will get this joke, others not so much. I apologize for that.

One last thing: Director/producer Nick Deninno launched the website for the movie so that anyone interested in getting updates, etc. can register. Felicia Mooradian is almost done with the screenplay and therefore we will have much more to tell you very shortly. So far, we have four alumni who will be working on the film. If you are interested in participating, please feel free to send us a note via the movie website http://www.prepthemovie.com/

Talk to you in July!!

New Lawsuit Filed Against St. Francis Prep: Teacher Allegedly Tells Student "I go to a place where people are very open with their bodies...we would love to have you."

A few people asked me what the allegations are in the new lawsuit filed against St. Francis Prep, involving Assistant Principal Mendolia and former teacher Fernando Sicilia, so I thought it best to take excerpts from the actual complaint filed in state court and put them here. The complaint is a public document, so you can go down to the courthouse and request to see it if you want to.

I have omitted a few allegations/names and/or identifying information to protect certain individuals, at least some of whom I am assuming will be called upon to testify when the time comes:

          Plaintiff, by and through her attorneys, Kevin T. Mulhearn, P.C., complaining of the Defendants, hereby alleges that:

OVERVIEW

          1.       This action is brought by a former student at ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL (“ST. FRANCIS PREP”).

          2.       This action sounds in fraud related to myriad false statements made by Defendants to Plaintiff (and other students) regarding campus safety and the school environment at ST. FRANCIS PREP.   Plaintiff alleges that ST. FRANCIS PREP, knowing that it employed two serial sexual harassers of girls, continued to employ these harassers, took no remedial action to protect their students from them, and repeatedly misrepresented the nature of the school and school environment, by concealing their prior knowledge of their sexual harasser employees’ propensities to sexually harass girls (and that they knew that these employees were in fact sexually harassing girls at ST. FRANCIS PREP).

Mendolia:

20.     Christopher Mendolia (who—despite the facts alleged herein—was promoted by ST. FRANCIS PREP in September 2013 to the position of Assistant Principal of Faculty) was one of the latter teachers who noticed Plaintiff’s low grades and despondence and chose to pick on her in front of the class.  Because she could not tolerate being embarrassed constantly, Plaintiff went to her assigned guidance counselor, Ms. Kunzi, to inform her teachers that she had extenuating circumstances that were affecting her schoolwork.

22.     Even after a letter was sent to her teachers about her troubles at home, Mr. Mendolia commented in front of Plaintiff’s classmates several times about how sad she seemed and chastised her for her many absences. 

23.     He would mock Plaintiff for her failing grades and often intentionally called on her to answer questions he was aware she could not answer. 

24.     There was one instance during Plaintiff’s sophomore year when Mr. Mendolia was nice to her, and that was a dress down day. 

26.     Mr. Mendolia commented on her attire: “WWWWW, you’re looking very nice today.”   “Nice” was stressed in a lascivious manner.

27.     Mr. Mendolia also openly ogled Plaintiff from behind when she threw scrap paper in the trash and again when she picked a pen up off the floor. 

28.     At the end of her sophomore year, Mr. Mendolia was addressing the class about being approved for A.P. U.S. History, and used her as an example of someone with “extenuating circumstances” who could still be approved for the advanced placement class, despite her grades being well below the normal cut off.

29.     In the winter of 2008, Plaintiff’s junior year, she was 16 years old. 

She registered for Driver Education in approximately early February with her close friend XXXXXXX.  Plaintiff, upon information and belief, paid ST. FRANCIS PREP approximately $500.00 to enroll in its Driver Education Program.

30.     Plaintiff and XXXXXXX were both assigned Mr. Mendolia for the afternoon session. 

31.     Driver Education began shortly thereafter. 

32.     Plaintiff’s parents signing consent forms which acknowledged that Mr. Mendolia was in loco parentis when Plaintiff was in the Driver Education car with him, meaning that Mr. Mendolia had some of the legal responsibilities of a parent when they were on the road. 

33.     Initially, it seemed that Mr. Mendolia was much kinder towards Plaintiff in the Driver’s Education Program than he had been when he was her social studies teacher.

34.     Plaintiff’s friend, XXXXXXXX, witnessed almost every event that took place in the Driver’s Education Program car.

35.     Mr. Mendolia would make conversation with the students in the car.

36.     Mr. Mendolia started with innocuous topics, such as who the students’ favorite and least favorite teachers were.

37.     However, Mr. Mendolia’s conversations with Plaintiff in the Driver’s Education Program car became increasingly personal. 

38.     They usually took place while she was driving.

39.     It began with what they had in common: babies in the family.

42.     Often, these conversations would veer into other more intimate topics.    43.          Mr.  Mendolia frequently discussed sex with Plaintiff in the Driver’s Education Program car.

44.     Mr. Mendolia told Plaintiff that he was not bothered by the idea of his child being sexually active as a teenager because, as he put it, “Everyone has sex.”

45.     Later on, in March of 2008, Mr. Mendolia frequently made comparisons between Plaintiff and his wife.

46.     On one occasion, he told Plaintiff, “You have beautiful eyes like my wife.”

47.     Mr. Mendolia added, “I got amber,” referring to his own eye color.

48.     Mr. Mendolia also told Plaintiff that his wife and she had the same hair color, light brown, and showed her their wedding photograph.

49.     The subject of abortion came up in the Driver’s Education Program car, and Mr. Mendolia said that Plaintiff was a perfect example of why abortion is a mistake. 

50.     Mr. Mendolia knew that Plaintiff’s mother was relatively young when Plaintiff was born, and said, with a wink, that if she had had an abortion, she wouldn’t have had Plaintiff. 

51.     This was said as something of a compliment.

52.     On or about March 10, 2008, Mr. Mendolia found out that Plaintiff was running for student body president.

53.     In the Driver’s Education Program car, while she was driving, Mr. Mendolia asked Plaintiff whether she had ever seen a film called “Election,” staring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick.

54.     Plaintiff had not seen the film.

55.     Mr. Mendolia told her that she should watch “Election” because, “It’s about a girl who’s running for student president and she’s fooling around with her teacher.”

56.     That evening, Plaintiff downloaded “Election,” an R-rated film, and was shocked by its explicit content and the striking parallels between the film and her circumstances, especially those concerning Mr. Mendolia.

57.     Matthew Broderick plays a social studies teacher; Jim McAllister, who goes by “Mr. M,” with a vendetta against a student, Tracy Flick, who is running for student president.

58.     In the film, Mr. M hate Tracy because she had an affair with his best friend, another teacher, “Mr. Novotny,” who was fired as a result.

59.     During the first few minutes of the firm, Mr. Novotny seduces Tracy because she is a troubled loner, much like Plaintiff was during her high school years, and brags to Mr. M about his affair with Tracy.

60.     Mr. Novotny described Tracy’s female anatomy with detail and enthusiasm.

61.     The film shows Mr. Novotny passionately kissing Tracy in a school dark room and it is implied visually that they have sex in Mr. Novotny’s home. 

62.     Later in the film, when Tracy begins her campaign for student president, Mr. M becomes obsessed with her.

63.     Mr. M is shown in bed thinking about Tracy, which prompts him to watch a pornographic film showing a high school cheerleader having sex while watching the pornography, Mr. M is hearing Tracy’s voice.

64.     During one of the sex scenes with Mr. M and his wife, Tracy’s face is superimposed on his wife’s head, screaming sexually explicit words.

65.     Plaintiff was appalled by the film and watched it with a number of her friends to see what their reactions would be.

66.     Plaintiff was in disbelief, as were her friends, that Mr. Mendolia would recommend “Election” to her.

67.     Plaintiff did not mention “Election” to Mr. Mendolia afterwards because she was too embarrassed by its explicit sexual content.

68.     Though she did not follow up on his suggestion, in April, 2008, Mr. Mendolia’s conduct became more overtly sexual.

69.     There were numerous instances several weeks after Mr. Mendolia told Plaintiff to watch “Election” that made her extremely uncomfortable.

70.     Plaintiff’s friend, XXXXXX was an art student taking photography class the same semester.  Plaintiff and XXXXXXX took Driver’s Education Program together. 

71.     XXXXXXX often used Plaintiff as a subject in her photographs and had been assigned to model photographs in the style of Annie Liebovitz.

72.     XXXXXXXX took several photographs of Plaintiff that were tasteful but somewhat erotic.

73.     In or about early April, one of the other students was driving, and XXXXXX and Plaintiff were in the back seat. 

74.     XXXXXXX mentioned that she had the photographs and Plaintiff asked to see them and she and Plaintiff were looking at the photographs privately, behind a binder.

75.     Mr. Mendolia reached around from the front passenger seat, while the car was being driven by a student, and forcefully grabbed several of the photos out of XXXXXXX’s hand.

76.     XXXXXXXX told Mr. Mendolia, “I don’t think you should look at those.”

77.     Mr. Mendolia ignored her and examined the photographs anyway, while the car was still being driven by a student.

78.     Mr. Mendolia commented, “These are a little … risqué.”

79.     Mr. Mendolia handed the photographs back to XXXXXXX when he was done carefully inspecting them.

80.     On a separate occasion, in or about mid-April 2008, while she was driving, Mr. Mendolia told Plaintiff that she had “interesting ears.”

81.     Mr. Mendolia then reached over to Plaintiff, slowly brushed her hair back, and massaged Plaintiff’s right ear, describing her earlobe as not attached but not quire detached, either.

82.     XXXXXXX witnessed this conduct and that afternoon she told her father about Mr. Mendolia touching Plaintiff’s ear.

83.     Another day, in or about mid-April, 2008, while Plaintiff was driving, she expressed to Mr. Mendolia that she was having trouble accelerating.

84.     Instead of demonstrating in any number of appropriate ways how one’s foot should touch the gas pedal, Mr. Mendolia placed his hand high on Plaintiff’s upper thigh, pressed down, and moved it back and forth for a couple of seconds.

85.     Plaintiff physically jumped in her seat at Mr. Mendolia’s inappropriate and sexually suggestive touch.

86.     Plaintiff did not say anything to him.

87.     Mr. Mendolia touched Plaintiff in a skillful manner, out of the view of the other passengers, while they were engaged in conversation.

88.     Later in the spring of 2008, in or about mid-April, while Plaintiff was driving, Mr. Mendolia lightly slapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. 

89.     Again, this occurred while the other passengers were not listening, as they were talking amongst themselves.

90.     Mr. Mendolia then said, “I made ice cream.” 

91.     Plaintiff replied, “Excuse me?”  Mr. Mendolia said, “You don’t get it?”  Plaintiff said, “No, I don’t.”

92.     Mr. Mendolia then, with a smirk, clarified: “It’s supposed to be, ‘I made YOU scream.’  Do you like that?”  Plaintiff did not answer him.

93.     Plaintiff never told her parents about the incidents in the Driver’s Education Program car with Mr. Mendolia until after she graduated, for fear they would become irate and call the Principal. 

95.     Plaintiff did, however, tell YYYYYYY about Mr. Mendolia’s conduct.     

96.     Plaintiff did not know if YYYYYYY reported what she told him, and she made no mention of it afterwards.

Sicilia:

97.     Fernando Sicilia was Plaintiff’s music teacher during her freshman year at ST. FRANCIS PREP, 2005-2006.

98.     Mr. Sicilia immediately took a liking to Plaintiff because they were both Cuban.

99.     Though Plaintiff did not have Mr. Sicilia in class after her freshman year, they maintained a friendly relationship during her sophomore and junior years.

100.   During Plaintiff’s junior year, she had several free periods in her schedule and every so often, she would stop in the music department to visit Mr. Sicilia, whom she trusted at the time.

101.   Towards the end of her junior year, in or about May, 2008, Mr. Sicilia told Plaintiff that he was leaving ST. FRANCIS PREP by choice, which she later found out was false.

102.   Mr. Sicilia, upon information and belief, was told to leave at the end of the 2007-2008 school year for inappropriate conduct.

103.   At the time, Plaintiff did not know Mr. Sicilia was told to leave.

104.   Plaintiff spent more time with Mr. Sicilia than usual in May 2008 because he was leaving.

105.   Plaintiff and Mr. Sicilia exchanged phone numbers, as Mr. Sicilia did with many students, under the guise of keeping in touch after his departure.

106.   Plaintiff did not know that Mr. Sicilia’s intentions were insidious. 

107.   In May of 2008, Mr. Sicilia sent Plaintiff several text messages inviting her to dinner and asking her if she was ok because he was aware of her problems at home.

108.   During Plaintiff’s last visit with Mr. Sicilia on one of her free periods, at the end of May 2008, Mr. Sicilia hugged her and told her, “You smell so good.” 

109.   Mr. Sicilia told Plaintiff that she was beautiful and expressed to her that he couldn’t stay faithful to his wife.

110.   Mr. Sicilia then told her the following: “I go to a place where people are very open with their bodies … we would love to have you.”

111.   “There’s no age limit.”

112.   “I would really love for you to join us.”

113.   Plaintiff left the classroom and immediately reported Mr. Sicilia’s sexually suggestive comments to YYYYYYYY.  YYYYYYYY became enraged.

114.   He said, “I would like to swing that guy around by his ponytail.”

116.   Plaintiff does not know if YYYYYYY reported her complaint about Mr. Sicilia.

COUNT I

FRAUDULENT INDUCEMENT

117.   Plaintiff repeats and realleges each of the allegations contained in paragraphs “1” through “116” herein, as if each said allegation has been set forth at length.

118.   At all material times, prior to the sexual harassment of Plaintiff at ST. FRANCIS PREP., numerous other ST. FRANCIS PREP students and children had previously been sexually harassed on or near ST. FRANCIS PREP’s campus by Mendolia and Sicilia.

          119.   At all material times, prior to the sexual harassment of the Plaintiff by Mendolia and Sicilia, numerous other ST. FRANCIS PREP students and children had previously been sexually harassed on or near ST. FRANCIS PREP’s campus by Mendolia and Sicilia.

          120.   Many of the aforesaid prior sexual harassment incidents of students and children by Mendolia and Sicilia were reported to (or observed by) ST. FRANCIS PREP administrators, including BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY (the Principal) and PATRICK McLAUGHLIN (then the Assistant Principal).

          121.   Upon information and belief, many of the aforesaid prior sexual harassment incidents of students by Mendolia and Sicilia were reported to ST. FRANCIS PREP administrators, including BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY and PATRICK McLAUGHLIN.  These sexual harassment complaints against Mendolia and Sicilia, upon information and belief, were made to various ST. FRANCIS PREP administrators (including BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY and PATRICK McLAUGHLIN), throughout Sicilia’s tenure as a ST. FRANCIS PREP faculty member, and throughout Mendolia’s tenure as a teacher and administrator at ST. FRANCIS PREP.

          122.   At all material times, ST. FRANCIS PREP, and their administrators, including BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY, PATRICK McLAUGHLIN, and others, failed to disclose any of Mendolia’s or Sicilia’s sexual harassment, or their knowledge that Mendolia and Sicilia both had a propensity to sexually harass girls, to the Plaintiff, students, parents, former students, alumni, prospective students (and their parents), or law enforcement officials.

          123.   At all material times, ST. FRANCIS PREP, and their administrators, including BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY and PATRICK McLAUGHLIN, failed to disclose their knowledge of Mendolia’s and Sicilia’s sexual harassment, or their knowledge that Mendolia and Sicilia both had a propensity to sexually harass girls, to the Plaintiff, students, parents, former students, prospective students (and their parents), or law enforcement officials.

          124.   Accurate information on sexual harassment on campus committed by ST. FRANCIS PREP administrators and/or faculty members would have had an impact on the decisions of those children—such as Plaintiff—who were prospective ST. FRANCIS PREP students to apply for admission and enroll as students at ST. FRANCIS PREP; and, likewise, would have had an impact on the decisions of those children—such as Plaintiff—who were then current ST. FRANCIS PREP students to continue their education at ST. FRANCIS PREP.

          125.   At all material times, Defendants ST. FRANCIS PREP, and their various administrators, including but not limited to BROTHER LEONARD CONWAY and PATRICK McLAUGHLIN, and others, intended to and did misrepresent the safety of ST. FRANCIS PREP, school environment at ST. FRANCIS PREP and its campus, and the trustworthiness of Mendolia and Sicilia, at various school events and in various school publications, in order to induce students (including Plaintiff) to enroll, or continue their education, at ST. FRANCIS PREP (and enroll in the ST. FRANCIS PREP Driver Education program).

          126.   Plaintiff justifiably relied on the aforesaid ST. FRANCIS PREP misrepresentations of campus safety, faculty fitness and trustworthiness, and nurturing school environment, when decided to enroll at ST. FRANCIS PREP and continue her education at ST. FRANCIS PREP.

          127.   Plaintiff was injured, and suffered severe emotional distress, pursuant to her aforesaid sexual harassment, as a result of Defendants’ fraudulent misrepresentations and deceptions, and the Plaintiff likewise suffered significant pecuniary losses (i.e. incurred substantial expenses for psychological treatment and counseling and incurred fees for her Driver Education Program) as a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ aforesaid fraudulent conduct.

          128.   The fact that the instrumentality which produced Plaintiff’s injuries was the wrongful conduct of Mendolia and Sicilia does not preclude a finding of proximate cause against the ST. FRANCIS PREP Defendants because the intervening agency - the sexual harassment committed against Plaintiff by Mendolia and Sicilia - were themselves foreseeable hazards. 

          129.   The aforesaid misrepresentations of ST. FRANCIS PREP to Plaintiff about campus safety, the school environment, and faculty trustworthiness, were the legal cause of the pecuniary loses incurred by Plaintiffs (i.e., expenses for psychological treatment and counseling and Driver Education Program fees) because all of those losses were within the foreseeable risk of harm created by Defendants.

          130.   Each of Plaintiff’s parents, likewise, relied on the Defendants’ aforesaid misrepresentations regarding campus safety, school environment, and faculty trustworthiness and acted on said reliance by enrolling or keeping their daughter at ST. FRANCIS PREP, and/or refrained from acting on said reliance by not enrolling their daughter in another school or withdrawing their daughter from ST. FRANCIS PREP and sending her to another school.

          131.   Plaintiff’s parents’ reliance on the Defendants’ aforesaid misrepresentations thus resulted in the aforesaid injuries to the Plaintiff.  (In New York, the doctrine of third-party reliance operates as an exception to the normal justifiable reliance element of common law fraud).

          132.   Under CPLR § 213(8), claims of fraud must be brought within two years of the time the Plaintiff discovered or could have discovered the fraud, or within six years of the time the fraud was committed, whichever is later.  As Plaintiff suffered her alleged injuries in or after April 2008, this Complaint is timely.

          133.   Defendants’ conduct was willful, wanton, reckless, and malicious, evinces a high degree of moral turpitude, and demonstrates such wanton dishonesty and willful disregard of Defendants’ civil obligations as to give rise to punitive damages.

134.   As and for Count I, Plaintiff herein thus claims compensatory damages against the Defendants in a sum to be determined at trial, punitive damages in a sum to be determined at trial, and reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses incurred in the prosecution of these claims. 

Well, that's the bulk of it! It will be interesting to see how this one turns out. I'm not much of a gambler, but for many reasons, I would bet on the plaintiff. 

A Very, Very Special Blog for St. Francis Prep

UPDATE: 5/5/2014
Happy Cinco de Mayo! We would like everyone to know that the depth and scope of the movie project discussed below has increased exponentially due to some recent events, including some additional well-known industry talent coming on board. If you would like to contribute your story to this project, you can contact us by email at hell@burnandrotinhell.com or the Director/Executive Producer Nick Deninno on Twitter @nickdeninno.

I want to remind you that if you feel you were harmed as a student of St. Francis Prep, you can contact Attorney Kevin Mulhearn at 845-398-2346. He is a good, kind, an honest man and he will do his best to help you.

Thank you!


I haven't blogged in a while, and I had to think about whether I even wanted to, or should. There's a lot of things happening, and those things have taken a lot of my attention recently. But several people have been asking what, exactly, is going on, so instead of repeating myself, I realized the best thing to do is say it once, here.

First, I want to say that after the Michael Moran blog was published, three things happened. One of his victims came forward, one SFP graduate found him, and someone unrelated to SFP who read my blog also found him and is planning on paying him a visit. Thank you to these three people, for your courage and help, from the bottom of my heart.

Second, I want to thank the several teachers who have been telling someone well-respected in the SFP community that I am a hero. Your compliments are very much appreciated. However, my intent was never to be a hero. My intent has always been to make sure children are protected. So I hope that when, and if the time comes, you tell the world what you know - things like Mr. Stenger had set up a gym in his house solely for the reason of luring the boys over to "work out" with him, and that he died with a huge collection of kiddie porn in his house. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for change at SFP. There will not be another. Do the right thing.

Third, I wanted to update everyone on the movie I am co-producing. Saturday Night Live alumnus and Executive Producer Nick DeNinno is a native New Yorker who started reading my blogs a while back. One day, he rang me up, and simply said, "I know truth when I read it." On that day, a partnership was born. He and I went back and forth about what the tone and content of the movie should be - should it be a hardcore documentary, or something else? There are many, many serious issues here, so at first we were leaning toward a straight-up documentary about the last 30 years at SFP. But then, the team read my blogs again, and my co-plaintiff, Felicia Mooradian, wrote character profiles and a treatment. Once we did that, we realized it has to be a comedy. A very dark comedy, in a mockumentary format, that is "inspired by true events." There was really no other way to go. I mean, really, let's think about this - the financial controller of SFP was convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery, the activities director could have easily stepped out of of a Tom of Finland gallery, they fired a transgender teacher who was there 32 years, even though there are currently gay faculty and staff in the Science Department, English Department, and Library, etc., and on numerous occasions I was summoned to help find the teeth of the former dean, who wound up screwing me over once my website launched. Oh, and of all things, a website launched by two lesbians called Burnandrotinhell.com played a part in bringing several lawsuits against the country's largest Catholic high school. It has to be a comedy, for sure. So the website PrepTheMovie.com will launch in a few weeks. The specs are with the web designer right now,and the website should give a clearer (and funnier) picture of what the movie itself will be like.

I am still very upset about Marla being fired, by the way. It really is a tragedy. I often wonder why there "allegedly" was so much animosity toward her by certain members of the administration, who "allegedly" called her "worse than gay." Maybe it was because Principal McLaughlin's ex-wife now prefers a woman as her romantic partner. Who knows?

Also, in case you haven't heard, there is a new lawsuit filed against the school. It alleges that Assistant Principal Mendolia and former teacher Fernando Sicilia sexually harassed a female student, and also alleges that certain administrators were aware they had done this sort of thing before. I am not saying anything else, because broader scale media is covering this, and I don't want to infringe on someone else's negotiated "exclusive."

Lastly, I want to give an update on the other three current lawsuits. April 30th the attorneys are giving oral arguments regarding the school's motion to dismiss the cases. (It's the same move they made in Marla's case. So inventive!) I spoke to Felicia Mooradian about this recently, and I explained to her that the hearing for her case is not to decide whether or not this happened. It's about the fact that she filed her lawsuit shortly after the statute of limitations had run. Then I told her that if her case gets dismissed on this issue, no one will hear the truth until she writes a book. I told her people want to know the truth now, and there are still some people out there who think she's lying, probably in part due to SFP "denying her allegations."

Well, that girl did some digging. She went way back into her emails from 2006, when Brother Ben, and another teacher she reported for grossly inappropriate conduct, were removed from teaching at SFP. So here's a little "proof" for those who have been clamoring for it:

This is an email Felicia wrote to her grandmother updating her on the Br. Ben situation:

Here's what her grandmother wrote back:

Here's another one she sent to her grandmother a few days later:






















And here's one sent to religion teacher Sue Vivona about the other teacher Felicia reported for disgusting behavior, and the end result of that:

Still denying the allegations, St. Francis Prep?

What EC Learned When She Reported a Student Being Sexually Harassed at St. Francis Prep in 2010

In 2010, a female student in my Accounting class came to me and told me something very disturbing. She said a male teacher was constantly hugging her, and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She said he had been doing this for a while, and that she hadn't said anything because she was hoping it would stop. She said she never reciprocated, she just sort of tolerated it because she didn't know what to do. Apparently it had gotten out of hand though, and she couldn't stand it anymore and was dreading going to his class. So, she asked me to do something.

I went to Assistant Principal Carolyn Szostek's office and told her the story, and she promised she would do something about it. She empathized with the girl right away, because she said there used to be a male teacher there that would do that to her when she was a young teacher, and it was disgusting. She said it got to a point that she finally told him to never touch her again. The following day, Robyn Armon, the head of the Guidance Department, stopped me in the hallway and told me it had all been taken care of, that the male teacher had been warned to stop hugging this girl.

That same day, the male teacher who was the "hugger" told me about the situation, not knowing I was the one who had reported it. He was very upset. His exact words to me were, "Why is it a problem every time I get close to a girl? Other teachers do it and no one stops them." Then he told me that he was targeted years ago, during the "witch hunt" the administration conducted after Tom Nuzzi was fired for stealing money and "dating" female students. He said he had been reported for inappropriate behavior on multiple occasions over the years, including incidents of staring at girls' breasts.

So I guess my question is, why is he STILL working there? No teacher should be getting "close to" any student. Teachers are not there to "get close" to them. Teachers should be teaching students what they have to teach, grading students' papers, AND NOT TOUCHING THEM.  I do not understand the mental mystery among SFP teachers regarding NOT TOUCHING THE KIDS.

The reason I am writing this blog today is because the girl who came to me in 2010 texted me recently that she is considering suing the school for sexual harassment. I told her that was a very serious decision to make, and she should think it over carefully. She would need to be prepared to be repeatedly called liar, just like Felicia Mooradian. She would also need to be prepared, in all probability, to have her allegations "denied" by people who know it happened, just like in Felicia's case.

So I guess we shall see as to whether or not she files a lawsuit in the near future. It's her decision to make, not anyone else's. God will tell her what she should do.

In any event, I must go now. Time to make the donuts! ;)