Former Westchester Priest Named In Sex Abuse Case

Daniel Calabrese was one of 10 former priests who have been charged with sexually abusing a then 13-year-old boy while he was a student at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, according to a Westchester court filing.

It is alleged that Calabrese took the teenager into the showers at the school and sexually assaulted him. The teen later realized that the abuse was likely premeditated, the court documents state.

Calabrese previously was sentenced to 90 days in local jail after pleading guilty to a sex act on a teenager at St. Mary’s Church in Poughkeepsie in 1992. He was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican in 2005. He also spent time as a priest at St. Paul’s Parish in Congers and Blessed Sacrament in Staten Island.

On Wednesday, Aug. 14, a provision of New York’s Child Victims Act took effect, making the start of the one-year period when alleged victims can file claims against alleged abusers and institutions that protected them, no matter how long ago the abuse may have occurred.

Victims of sexual abuse in New York previously were required to file any civil lawsuits before they turned 23. Under the new law, anyone under the age of 55 can file a lawsuit, and during the one-year window, older victims can also make claims.

More than a dozen lawsuits have reportedly been filed involving schools in Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties.

Cases have also been filed against each of New York’s eight Roman Catholic Church dioceses, the Boy Scouts of America, some schools and hospitals.

In response to the influx of cases, New York State has designated 45 judges statewide that will hear cases, some of which date back decades.

“The revived Child Victims Act cases are critically important cases, raising numerous challenging legal issues that must be adjudicated as consistently and expeditiously as possible across the state,” New York Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said. “We are fully committed to providing appropriate and sufficient resources to achieve that goal.”

The one-year window where the statute of limitations will be lifted on these cases in New York ends on Aug. 14, 2020.

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