'Tom Bernagozzi sexually abused me when I was a child,' former student tells jurors about the former Bay Shore third grade teacher

A former Bay Shore elementary school student told a Suffolk jury he was sexually abused by a third grade teacher for several years in the late 1990s, as the educator repeatedly found new ways for them to spend time together in and out of school.

The former student, now 36, said he never had Thomas Bernagozzi as a teacher, but a relationship that developed from lunchtime chess games between the two eventually led to outings at a health club, pools and beaches, where the teacher stripped him naked and touched his private areas with his hands and mouth.

"Tom Bernagozzi sexually abused me when I was a child," the former student told the jury seated before acting Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis in Riverhead.

The witness, who Newsday is not naming because he is the alleged victim of a sex crime, is one of three complainants in a criminal case against Bernagozzi and the first to take the witness stand at trial.

Bernagozzi is charged with sexual conduct against a child for the alleged abuse of the boy from 1997 to 2000, court records show. The teacher, whose 30-year career ended in 2000, is also facing a charge of sodomy and five counts of possession of a sexual performance by a child for allegations involving two additional former students.

The witness said Bernagozzi would strip him down in his classroom beginning when he was 8 years old behind a bookshelf that obscured any view from the door and change him into clothes he provided before taking him to play tennis or swim at the former Amritraj health club in Bay Shore after school.

"I did not attribute any sexual intent ... at that time," the witness said. "Obviously looking back now it's clear what he was doing."

"What do you mean?" asked Assistant District Attorney Dana Castaldo.

"He was getting a sexual satisfaction from changing me," he responded.

The witness often spoke more loudly as he testified to the alleged abuse. When asked to identify Bernagozzi in court, he kept his gaze on him. Wilutis sustained objections from the defense as the witness added commentary that "it's so frustrating" and "I'm just enraged" after testifying to the specifics of the alleged abuse.

The former student said Bernagozzi continued to abuse him after his third grade school year. That summer the teacher took the boy swimming at Robert Moses and Jones Beach state parks and showered him, "molesting and groping" him while applying soap to his body.

Roughly 200 images, kept in the form of negatives seized by police from Bernagozzi's home following his arrest in December 2023 and shared with the jury Wednesday, depicted the boy shirtless at Jones Beach and in other locations he said the teacher brought him. Castaldo shared the photos one by one and asked the student to describe them. Many of the images depicted him at locations he mentioned in testimony. He said Bernagozzi would ask him to take specific poses when he photographed him.

 Bernagozzi, who has often looked down at the table and away from witnesses during testimony, watched intently as the photos were displayed on a screen. 

The former student also testified to attending plays and professional sporting events with the teacher in New York City during the remaining two years he spent in elementary school.

When he was in fourth grade, Bernagozzi cast him in the leading role of a third grade production of Peter Pan, the witness testified, adding that he does not believe any other fourth graders appeared in the play. Like he did during the other outings, Bernagozzi changed the boy and touched him while applying powder to his private areas during play rehearsals, he told the jury.

The former student recalled at first enjoying the attention he received from other students as the star of a school play.

 But the alleged abuse carried with it subconscious anxiety, he now believes, testifying that he began wetting his pants in anticipation of Bernagozzi touching him behind stage curtains.

The former student said the alleged abuse stopped after he was confronted by his father, who testified Tuesday that he witnessed the teacher place his son in his lap at a Mets game. The son said his father called Bernagozzi "a creep."

The man said he eventually told a teacher at Bay Shore High School years later about what Bernagozzi had done to him, but nothing came of it. He said he also confided about the alleged abuse to a girlfriend and friends in high school, college and in his adult life.

The former student testified that while he has managed to start a family and have a successful career, he has battled alcoholism throughout his life and has two alcohol-related arrests on his record.

The witness said he did not discuss the allegations with his parents until after he shared them with a civil attorney, he testified. A civil claim against the district was settled, he told the jury under testimony that was limited by the judge. The civil settlement is sealed.

Defense attorney Steven Politi, of Central Islip, had asked Wilutis to allow a stipulation disclosing that Bernagozzi was not personally sued by the witness and was not involved in the settlement or directed to pay any damages. He argued that not doing so would prejudice his client by suggesting he personally settled with the former student. The judge denied that request.

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. 

Testimony from the former student will continue Thursday.

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.