Post by musicradio77 on Oct 14, 2005 23:54:14 GMT -5
By ANGELA MOSCONI
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
A Catholic priest who once headed a prominent Greenwich Village church is being sued for allegedly raping a former parishioner half his age.
In a civil suit filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court, Leslie Fray, now 51, claimed the Rev. Joseph Cogo "raped, sexually attacked and harassed" her when she was a new Catholic convert attending Our Lady of Pompei Church in the late 1970s.
"This ruined my life," said Fray, who had just graduated from Yale at the time of the alleged attacks. "I was a mute for all these years. I couldn't talk. I couldn't walk. I'm seeking $27 million - $1 million for each year that I suffered."
Cogo, now 71, was removed from the church last year amid the allegations and currently heads a church in Caracas.
"We stand by those who defend us," Cogo said from Venezuela. "It's a shame. It really is a shame."
He referred all other questions to his lawyer.
Fray also is suing the Archdiocese of New York, the church and the Scalabrinians - the religious order that runs Our Lady of Pompei - for negligence.
Fray said that only after years of counseling did she realize that what allegedly happened to her was wrong.
"My therapist told me that I'm suffering from posttraumatic stress and that this was rape," she said.
She claimed she had sex with him three times, the first time in her Thompson St. apartment.
"He told me it was sanctioned on high and the Scalabrinians were okay with it," Fray said.
"I trusted priests," she said. "I believed everything Father Cogo said. He was a priest and I respected them."
Asked why she's coming out with her story years later, she said, "I want to help other women. There may be more victims."
Timothy O'Neill, who represents the Scalabrinians, calls the charges "groundless," noting that the statute of limitations makes a criminal case impossible.
"Nothing ever happened," O'Neill said. "Father Cogo is totally denying any wrongdoing in this case."
In an interview with The Villager, Cogo admitting only to hugging Fray.
"There was no abuse," he told the Greenwich Village weekly. "I was imprudent - of course I was. When you deal with young people who are in need you go possibly a little bit further than you should. You hug, certainly - but nothing more than that."
The suit also maintains that the church and the Scalabrinians "knew, or should have known, that Cogo committed acts of sexual misconduct against parishioners, including [Fray], and concealed from [Fray] their knowledge of Cogo's sexually abusive behavior."
Parishioners were shocked by the allegations.
Sandra Giuffre, a life-long parishioner, said only Cogo could console her and her paraplegic husband when their son died from an aneurism six years ago.
"He came to see us every day and every single week," Giuffre said. "We had no reason to live. Father Cogo gave us a reason to live. I don't believe he's capable of doing anything like that."
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
A Catholic priest who once headed a prominent Greenwich Village church is being sued for allegedly raping a former parishioner half his age.
In a civil suit filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court, Leslie Fray, now 51, claimed the Rev. Joseph Cogo "raped, sexually attacked and harassed" her when she was a new Catholic convert attending Our Lady of Pompei Church in the late 1970s.
"This ruined my life," said Fray, who had just graduated from Yale at the time of the alleged attacks. "I was a mute for all these years. I couldn't talk. I couldn't walk. I'm seeking $27 million - $1 million for each year that I suffered."
Cogo, now 71, was removed from the church last year amid the allegations and currently heads a church in Caracas.
"We stand by those who defend us," Cogo said from Venezuela. "It's a shame. It really is a shame."
He referred all other questions to his lawyer.
Fray also is suing the Archdiocese of New York, the church and the Scalabrinians - the religious order that runs Our Lady of Pompei - for negligence.
Fray said that only after years of counseling did she realize that what allegedly happened to her was wrong.
"My therapist told me that I'm suffering from posttraumatic stress and that this was rape," she said.
She claimed she had sex with him three times, the first time in her Thompson St. apartment.
"He told me it was sanctioned on high and the Scalabrinians were okay with it," Fray said.
"I trusted priests," she said. "I believed everything Father Cogo said. He was a priest and I respected them."
Asked why she's coming out with her story years later, she said, "I want to help other women. There may be more victims."
Timothy O'Neill, who represents the Scalabrinians, calls the charges "groundless," noting that the statute of limitations makes a criminal case impossible.
"Nothing ever happened," O'Neill said. "Father Cogo is totally denying any wrongdoing in this case."
In an interview with The Villager, Cogo admitting only to hugging Fray.
"There was no abuse," he told the Greenwich Village weekly. "I was imprudent - of course I was. When you deal with young people who are in need you go possibly a little bit further than you should. You hug, certainly - but nothing more than that."
The suit also maintains that the church and the Scalabrinians "knew, or should have known, that Cogo committed acts of sexual misconduct against parishioners, including [Fray], and concealed from [Fray] their knowledge of Cogo's sexually abusive behavior."
Parishioners were shocked by the allegations.
Sandra Giuffre, a life-long parishioner, said only Cogo could console her and her paraplegic husband when their son died from an aneurism six years ago.
"He came to see us every day and every single week," Giuffre said. "We had no reason to live. Father Cogo gave us a reason to live. I don't believe he's capable of doing anything like that."