Note: The Hartford Archdiocese has put the Rev. Stephen Bzdrya on leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
Original post followsL
A New Haven man filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against a Seymour priest, claiming the Rev. Stephen Bzdrya raped him while he was an altar boy in the 1980s.
William Dotson, 34, claims the abuse started at St. Francis Church in New Haven, where Bzdyra was a priest.
Bzdrya is a priest at St. Augustine Church in Seymour. He is in Germany this week, according to his Facebook page. An e-mail seeking comment was sent to Bzdrya.
A call for comment was left with the spokesman for the Hartford Archdiocese.
Dotson’s attorney, Joel T. Faxon of Stratton Faxon in New Haven, said the abuse started in a church basement after catechism class, where Bzdyra accused the boy of lying.
Faxon claims the priest whipped him with a belt before raping him.
Dotson was about 10 years old at the time of the alleged assault. Dotson’s mother was on public assistance at the time. Faxon said that in order to keep Dotson quiet, the priest threatened to report her to the authorities for violating public assistance regulations.
The priest was also close with Dotson’s family, Faxon said, which allowed the abuse to continue until about 1990.
He purchased a used car for Dotson, in addition to buying him a washer and dryer, all in an effort to buy Dotson’s silence, Faxon said.
The lawsuit claims the Archdiocese “knew or should have known” about Bzdrya’s activities.
“What the diocese did, like others in Bridgeport, Hartford, Norwich and other places around the country and around the world, was to move this pedophile around. Their idea of a fresh start was a new group of children,” Faxon said.
Dotson is now unemployed and has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, which can be attributed to his experience with Bzdrya, Faxon said.
Dotson has three children. He said he decided to go public with the accusations and lawsuit because Bzdrya recently tried to “friend” one of Dotson’s children on Facebook.
“Will said ‘That’s it. This has got to end, because he is going to continue to attack children,’” Faxon said.
When asked whether the lawsuit is merely Dotson’s word against that of a long-serving Catholic priest, Faxon said Bzdrya’s behaviors match other priests who have been accused of molesting kids.
The lawsuit was filed against Bzdyra, the Hartford Roman Catholic Diocese Corp., St. Francis Church in New Haven, St. Hedwig Church in Naugatuck.
The Naugatuck church is named because some of the molestations are alleged to have happened while Bzdyra was there.
The lawsuit asks for at least $15,000 in damages. Reckless battery and negligence are among the counts alleged by Dotson.
A copy of the lawsuit is posted below.
The brave victim of Fr. Stephen Bzdyra is to be commended for speaking up and making his abuse public. Hopefully this will encourage others who may have been harmed by this priest to come forward and contact law enforcement
Often, when one victim of a predator discloses, others sit back and feel like the obligation to report is somehow lessened. But it’s important for everyone with information about clergy sex crimes to come forward.
We urge anyone who has been harmed by Bzdyra to call police officials, not church officials. Child sex crimes, however old, should be investigated by the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased amateurs in church offices.
Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director,
636-433-2511, snapjudy@gmail.com
“Survivors Network of those Abused Priests”
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
When will society wake up and see religion for the threat it really is? Do we really need any more of these molestation cases or any more 9/11 type attacks to finally admit to ourselves that religion is harmful to society and needs to be abolished?
Another disgusting story from a figure we are supposed to trust and put our faith in. As a member of St. Augustine’s with young children I am enraged that this is someone who accepted confessions and continued to put himself out there as holier than thou to the congregation. If this is true, may he rot in Hell with any one else who would even consider harming a child.
Not fault of religion as claimed by Valley Resident. If this creep had followed the tenets of his religion, Mr Dotson and any other victims would be safe.
Laxity by apparently sane Church leaders such as Cardinal Law in Boston and Cardinal- to- be Eagan in Bridgeport letting psychologically unqualified candidates be ordained, and cover-up for molesters,, was even worse than the actual offenses by the creeps who in my opinion must have been mentally unbalanced.
Not religion itself,not most priests but a tiny fraction, who never should have been allowed in the priesthood,
Shame on those leaders whose laxity permitted these horrible acts.
To Walt, below. I must say that your saying this is only a small fraction of priests is yet to be proven. There are so many, many boys (now men in a lot of cases) who never came forward and are just sitting back watching this whole issue with priests abuse unfold. I have 2 people in my family, abused boys, now men, who are yet to come forward because they have boys themselves and want to avoid the embarassment their families would endure, so they sit quietly and watch from the sidelines like a spectator sport. We don’t know, but perhaps as many as 70% of priests have sexually abused young boys (that was the last count I saw published). It is the “do as I say, not as I do” mentality of the priests.
Smithy
Have never heard of a study which showed more than 2 per cent
That itself is very bad as I see it.
Your figures are apparently just made up,
Sorry you need to do so