Thomas Bernagozzi sex abuse trial: Father tells jury he saw ex-teacher as 'huge threat' to the safety of his sons

A Bay Shore man told a staff member at Gardiner Manor Elementary School that he did not want a third-grade teacher to interact with his children after he witnessed one of his sons sit on the educator's lap at a baseball game, he told a jury in Suffolk County Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The father, who Newsday is not naming because his son is the alleged victim of a sex crime, said he viewed former teacher Thomas Bernagozzi as a "huge threat" to the safety of his four boys after witnessing the incident at the end of a Mets game at Shea Stadium more than two decades ago.

"He sat on his lap, which shocked me," the parent said in testimony that began Friday in Riverhead. "I lost track of time over how shockingly comfortable he was with my son."

Bernagozzi is charged with sexual conduct against a child for the alleged abuse of the boy, who prosecutors say was subjected to inappropriate touching of his private areas by the teacher from 1997 to 2000. Bernagozzi facing sodomy charges and five counts of possession of a sexual performance of a child for allegations regarding two other students during a 30-year career that began in 1970. Bernagozzi has pleaded not guilty.

The father said he and his wife confronted their son about his relationship with the teacher after returning home from the ballgame and called the principal's office the following business day. He told the jury he informed a secretary that he did not want his sons, which included one child entering the third grade that coming school year, placed in Bernagozzi's classroom or participating in extracurricular programs the teacher ran.

The father testified that he never heard back from the school administration, but his wife later received a letter from Bernagozzi.

"He said he couldn't believe how we had reported him [after] he had done so much good for the kids," the father recalled the teacher's letter saying. The letter was later thrown out, the father testified.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney MacDonald Drane told the jury during opening statements that Bernagozzi had taken the boy to several baseball games. The game in question was the only one attended by both the teacher and his father, who testified that he was in the U.S. Coast Guard and stationed in San Pedro, California, for much of the period when his son became close with the teacher.

The father said the incident he witnessed occurred after the final out of the game, when his sons left the section where they were seated to seek autographs near the dugouts. He said they left the ballgame, returning home in the teacher's car, soon after his son sat in Bernagozzi's lap. He did not discuss his concerns with the teacher, testifying that he didn't believe that would be appropriate to do so in front of the kids.

"Silence was my friend at this point," the father told the jury seated before acting State Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis in Riverhead.

Defense attorney Steven Politi, of Central Islip, spent much of his occasionally heated cross-examination focused on apparent inconsistencies in the father's timeline at trial and from an earlier statement he gave a detective investigating the retired teacher in 2023.

Politi questioned testimony the parent gave regarding how he first learned of Bernagozzi through his mother-in-law, who he said was an end-of-life nurse for the teacher's mother, pointing out that the mother died in November 1998, more than a year after prosecutors alleged the abuse began. He said his mother-in-law and other adults gave "glowing reports" of Bernagozzi, calming initial concerns about the boy spending extra time with the teacher.

The defense attorney also questioned the father's testimony about being away from the home in the years prosecutors have alleged the abuse occurred, with the father later clarifying through redirect examination from Drane that military records show he returned home in April 1998, near the end of the boy's third-grade school year.

Politi also asked the father if he or his wife ever followed up with the school district after not hearing back regarding the initial complaint.

"No," the father said. "Big regret that I did not."

The father said his son, who will likely testify when the trial resumes Wednesday, denied the teacher ever touched his private areas. The father said he first learned of the alleged abuse when questioned by detectives decades later.

Suffolk police opened an investigation into Bernagozzi after 45 former Bay Shore students filed Child Victims Act claims against the district from 2019 to 2021. He was indicted in December 2023.

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.