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Edwin Gaynor, of Ossining, is accused of fondling minors during gym classes in the 1960s when he worked at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Scarsdale, as well as other students in Westchester, according to a lawsuit filed in Westchester County civil court two years ago.
It is alleged that the Archdiocese of New York knew of the abuse and rather than handle the situation, they instead continued to move Gaynor to different schools, none of which have been named in the lawsuit accusing him of fondling the student.
This week, a New York State Supreme Court judge overseeing lawsuits against Gaynor ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and local schools and churches to turn over a trove of documents to plaintiffs, who were students of Gaynor’s between the 1950s and 1980s.
Prosecutors said that many of the materials relate to a 2002 Westchester grand jury investigation into reported abuse at Catholic Church institutions.
The Supreme Court ruling turns what had been "a hard-won trickle of documentation into a highly revealing deluge,” Barbara Hart, a lawyer for approximately 20 accusers and a director at leading plaintiffs law firm Grant & Eisenhofer, said.
Records sought date back to 1956, and include all documentation regarding Gaynor’s tenure as a physical education teacher and coach. The Archdiocese has 60 days to provide the information to prosecutors.
Plaintiffs accusing Gaynor were students at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scarsdale, St. Bernard in White Plains, and Holy Rosary in Hawthorne.
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