March 4, 2010

NEW CHURCH SEX SUIT: CONNECTICUT MAN SAYS EGAN PLACED TROUBLED PRIEST WHO MOLESTED HIM

A Connecticut man claims he was molested as a kid by a pedophile priest who was assigned to his parish by New York's former Edward Cardinal Egan.

Thopsey Brooks charges in a lawsuit that Egan, who was then bishop of the Bridgeport diocese, put the Rev. John Castaldo on the payroll - even after being warned about the cleric's "bizarre sexual proclivities."

"It's taken an extreme toll," said Brooks, now 30, who claims Castaldo sexually abused him between 1989 and 1992.

"I've had extreme anxiety to the point where I didn't want to leave my home. I didn't want to hang out with friends. I had trouble in school."

His lawyer, Joel Faxon, said Egan and other church officials knew Castaldo was a monster.

"We are appalled that the diocese and, in particular, Edward Cardinal Egan, would permit continued assignment of a priest known to be a serious risk to children and a sexual deviant," Faxon said.

Egan, through a spokesman for the New York Archdiocese, said he "and his advisors will look into the matter."

Castaldo, who has reportedly been defrocked, could not be located for comment.

The civil lawsuit, filed yesterday in Superior Court in New Haven, Conn., also names the Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.

Back in 1980, when Castaldo was in the seminary, a church psychologist reported he "was fearful of his own aggressive desires" and had "difficulty accepting his own sexual urges," the suit states.

Castaldo was later expelled for "remarkably bizarre behavior" but somehow managed to finish his studies at a seminary in Wisconsin and was ordained in 1987, the suit contends.

That same year, Castaldo was assigned to St. Teresa's parish in Trumbull, Conn., where he "sexually molested Brooks Thopsey for purposes of his own deviant sexual gratification," says the suit.

"The Diocese authorized and encouraged Castaldo to meet with minors, including Brooks Thopsey," the suit also states.

Castaldo subsequently served at four other Connecticut parishes and was spiritual director at a Catholic high school in Stamford for a time.

The pervert priest was booted from that post in May 2001 after he was caught having a sexually explicit online chat with an undercover cop posing as a 14-year-old boy.

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

Similar allegations came up in another sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Castaldo and church officials, the Associated Press reported. Egan was subpoenaed to testify in that case, but it was settled before he was called to the stand.

Egan served as archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009.