Thomas Bernagozzi sexual abuse case: Former Bay Shore students whose alleged abuse exceeds statute of limitations cannot testify at trial, judge rules

A Suffolk judge has denied a prosecutor’s request to allow dozens of former Bay Shore students to testify to their own alleged abuse at the criminal trial of a retired elementary school teacher charged with sexually abusing two other students.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis ruled Monday that allowing the testimony of 36 former students whose alleged abuse prosecutors have said could not be charged due to the statute of limitations would "produce a tsunami of prejudice" against Thomas Bernagozzi when his trial begins next month.

"The acts alleged by the [36 additional students] are heinous, disgusting and unthinkable, however the court must focus on the complainants in the indictment before it, and must ensure that both sides are given a fair trial," Wilutis wrote in her decision.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office had argued the testimony was necessary to establish the teacher engaged in a "common scheme or plan" to abuse children for his own sexual gratification throughout his entire three-decade career in the classroom, which ended when he retired in 2000.

Defense attorney Steven Politi, who is representing the 77-year-old retired third-grade teacher, had opposed allowing the testimony of any students not included in the indictments, arguing the "cumulative prejudicial effect" of the testimony would "far outweigh any evidential value."

Wilutis did, however, grant prosecutors the ability to ask questions covering a limited period beyond the statute of limitations as it relates to the alleged victims included in the indictment.

Bernagozzi was arrested on Dec. 21, 2023, and charged with sodomy and sexual conduct against a child involving two former students. He pleaded not guilty in state Supreme Court in Suffolk in January 2024. The single count of sodomy relates to a student who was 4 years old when Bernagozzi allegedly abused him from September 1989 to January 1990, court records state. The charge of sexual conduct against a child involved another student who was between 8 and 10 years old when Bernagozzi allegedly abused him from November 1997 to January 2000, the records show.

He was later charged with five counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child for photo negatives he kept at his Babylon home that show the exposed genitals of an 8-year-old former student he taught between 1987 and 1989 as he sat nude on a bench and cement ledge at a beach.

Suffolk police and prosecutors opened the investigation into Bernagozzi after 45 former Bay Shore students filed Child Victims Act claims alleging the retired teacher sexually abused them. Most of the lawsuits, which were allowed under a look-back window in the law, involved 8-year-old boys who were students in his classes at Gardiner Manor and Mary G. Clarkson elementary schools, or participated in an after-school sports program he ran.

A Newsday investigation published last year found the Bay Shore school district kept Bernagozzi employed despite sexual abuse allegations spanning decades.

The Bay Shore district has reached settlements in 42 of the 45 lawsuits, according to records reviewed by Newsday. The district has paid more than $75 million in settlements, with additional payments being made by insurance companies, records show.

The only civil case that went to trial ended with a jury awarding the plaintiff $25 million, but Bay Shore appealed and a judge suggested the two sides settle at around $4 million. That appeal and two additional lawsuits are ongoing.

Prosecutors on Monday also sought permission from the judge to cross examine Bernagozzi regarding his testimony in the civil trial should he take the stand during the criminal proceeding. They allege the former teacher committed perjury when he denied in testimony under oath that he allowed students to sit on his lap and when he denied keeping classwork and photographs as mementos from his tenure as a teacher. Politi objected to the prosecution's request, arguing that they are seeking the exception to compensate for a lack of evidence against his client.

"That's their problem," the defense attorney told the judge. "That's not your problem and it should never be the defendant's problem."

Wilutis reserved decision on that matter and set jury selection for Jan. 12.

Newsday's Jim Baumbach contributed to this story.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.