Ex-Bay Shore teacher Thomas Bernagozzi took advantage of parents' 'blind trust' when he abused students, prosecutor says

The trial of a former Bay Shore teacher accused of sexually abusing multiple students reached a halt before the jury heard from a single witness, as Suffolk prosecutors argued the defense has opened the door for testimony from additional students whose alleged abuse was never charged.

Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Dana Castaldo said the judge should reconsider an earlier decision to limit testimony in Thomas Bernagozzi's sexual abuse trial after she said defense attorney Steven Politi made reference during opening statements to allegations beyond the scope of what the judge allowed.

Politi refuted the prosecutor's claims, saying all his remarks Tuesday related to the three students whose alleged abuse is the basis for the criminal case.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis sent the jury home and said witness testimony would not begin until she hears additional arguments from both sides and issues a decision Wednesday.

"The court must address some legal matters which have arisen," Wilutis told the jury of seven women and five men. "It's going to take some time." 

Prosecutors began the trial by alleging in opening statements that Bernagozzi took advantage of the “blind trust” of parents when he abused a pair of students for his own sexual gratification. A popular teacher in the district's elementary schools for 30 years, Bernagozzi created extracurricular programs to form “twisted and manipulative” relationships with young boys, Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney MacDonald Drane told the jury.

The sports and theater programs placed the students alone with the teacher, who Drane said created a “ruse” to change their clothes and apply talcum powder to their bodies, which he touched with his hands and mouth to "fulfill his sexual desires."

“There is no explanation that anyone can make for a teacher putting powder on a student’s" private parts, Drane said. "For that matter, there’s no innocent explanation for any adult to do that to a child.”

Bernagozzi, 77, of Babylon, is charged with sodomy and sexual conduct against a child for the alleged abuse involving two students, both of whom attended Bay Shore elementary schools but were assigned to other teachers in third grade, the level he primarily taught between 1970 and 2000. One of the students was 4 years old when the abuse began in the late 1980s, prosecutors said. The other was 7 years old when he met Bernagozzi nearly a decade later. In both instances the abuse continued for several years, prosecutors said.

Bernagozzi is also charged with five counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child for photo negatives dating back to 1987, which prosecutors said police found in a dresser drawer in the retired teacher’s bedroom while executing a search warrant in December 2023. The negatives, later developed by police, showed another of his 8-year-old former students with his genitals exposed in successive images taken at a public beach.

Politi, of Central Islip, told the jury he believes the allegations against his client were "fabricated" by men who targeted the teacher by filing civil lawsuits for the "singular purpose of making money." He called the criminal case a "strategic decision by attorneys" and said the allegations defy logic and that the former students are looking for someone to blame for their personal failures.

Politi noted that the three complainants never reported the abuse to parents, police or school officials at the time and told their stories only when contacted by a civil attorney more than 20 years later. All three complainants in the criminal case have settled civil claims with the school district or its insurers, court records show. Newsday is not naming them because they are alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Politi urged the jury to consider "the lack of evidence" the prosecution will present as the trial continues.

"We contend that these crimes never occurred," Politi said. "My client sits there vehemently denying the these charges with every fiber of his being."

Wilutis sustained more than a dozen prosecution objections during Politi's opening statement, cautioning the attorney that the jury had not yet heard witness testimony. "This is an opening statement, not closing," Wilutis repeatedly noted.

Bernagozzi was arrested on Dec. 21, 2023, after Suffolk police and prosecutors opened an investigation into him following Child Victims Act claims filed by 45 former Bay Shore students who alleged the retired teacher sexually abused them.

Despite the large volume of claims, prosecutors have said only the abuse allegedly endured by the students in the indictment could be charged under state law. They then sought for the judge to allow testimony from 36 additional students, but Wilutis ruled that allowing such evidence would "produce a tsunami of prejudice" against Bernagozzi.

Politi told the judge Tuesday that should she change her position on that matter, such prejudice would still exist. 

Prosecutors told the jury they will hear testimony from all three students in the indictment and see evidence that the teacher lavished the boys with gifts and took them on elaborate trips to New York City, including Broadway shows and professional sporting events.

Drane described Bernagozzi's relationship with one of the boys as "more like a romantic relationship" than student and teacher. He said the students were too young to understand the inappropriate nature of the relationship at the time and the alleged abuse carried a stigma that led to personal problems into adult life.

"He was someone that they thought they could trust," Drane said. "And it wasn't just them ... their parents trusted him too." 

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.