February 10, 2005

DIOCESE SETTLES EX-ALTAR BOY’S SEX SUIT

By Daniel Tepfer, Connecticut Post

BRIDGEPORT- The Roman Catholic Diocese Thursday settled a lawsuit by a former Trumbull altar boy who claimed he was abused by the Rev. John Castaldo in the early 1990s.

New Haven lawyer Michael Stratton, who represented the victim, would only confirm that the settlement is “well into the six figures”.

He said both sides agreed to keep the terms of the settlement secret.

“I was prepared to try the case, but the lawsuit was damaging my client’s mental health and he needed closure,” he said.

It was the second lawsuit involving allegations of abuse by Castaldo that was settled by the diocese in two months.

“This legal settlement is the right thing to do,” said Bishop William E. Lori.

“We agreed that the resolution of this case is a part of the healing process, and hope that this young man will find closure and reconciliation,” he said.

Castaldo, former chaplain at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford, has had his ability to function as a priest suspended by the diocese.

The diocese has previously paid out more than $37 million in settlements to people who claimed they were abused by priests since the 1950s.

Stratton said his client, who is now 28 and works in education, was an altar boy at St. Theresa’s Church in the early 1990s when he was abused by Castaldo.

In addition to molesting the then-12-year-old boy in the church, Stratton said Castaldo also abused him on trips with other altar boys, including one to Disney World.

Stratton said his client’s parents are devout Catholics and completely loyal to the church and didn’t want to hear his allegations.

“He ended up growing away from his parents because he felt they didn’t protect him from this priest,” he said.

In January the diocese agreed to settle another lawsuit by a former altar boy who claimed he was molested by Castaldo at St. Theresa’s Church and during a trip with the priest and other boys to Disney World. That settlement was reached as a jury was being selected for trial in Stamford Superior Court for the case.

Court papers in that case stated Castaldo had been ordained by the Bridgeport diocese despite two separate psychological assessments that he was “fearful of his own aggressive drives,” and had “difficulty accepting his own sexual urges and desires as normal,” and was “preoccupied with his unresolved sexual urges.”

Castaldo had previously been expelled from his seminary for “remarkably bizarre behavior,” the court papers state.

In May 2001, Castaldo was caught in a sting operation by New York police and charged with trying to solicit sex via the Internet from an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy.

Castaldo later pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to one weekend in jail and five years probation.

He was subsequently removed from his position by Lori, who also suspended Castaldo’s ability to function as a priest.

Castaldo served as a parochial vicar and the Trumbull church from 1987 to 1992.

He was subsequently moved by then-Bishop Edward Egan to St. Mark’s in Stratford, where he served from 1992 to 1994.

He then went to St. Edward the Confessor in New Fairfield from 1994 to 1998 and St. Rose of Lima in Newtown until 1999.