Thomas Bernagozzi trial: 2 witnesses testify a former Bay Shore student told them he was sexually molested by the former third-grade teacher

A former Bay Shore student told members of his college track team in 2009 he had been molested by an elementary school teacher, a former teammate testified in Suffolk County Criminal Court Tuesday.

Gerald McDonald told the jury his friend mentioned the alleged abuse by Thomas Bernagozzi as an explanation for apparent anger issues that caused him to leave the team and school his sophomore year.

"He confided that he had an experience where he was molested by a teacher at his school growing up," McDonald testified before acting State Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis in Riverhead. "It was extremely vulnerable. He struck me as effectively broken."

Bernagozzi, 77, of Babylon, is charged with sexual conduct against a child for the alleged abuse of the boy from 1997 to 2000, court records show. The former student told the jury last week that the teacher touched his genitals with his hand and mouth and applied powder to his body. He said the alleged abuse occurred in the classroom and during outings to beaches, pools and a health club.

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.

Newsday is not naming the students because they are the alleged victims of sex crimes.

McDonald was one of two prosecution witnesses to testify Tuesday after being added to the witness list a day earlier. Prosecutors told the judge the witnesses were being called after the former student told the jury he confided the abuse to them more than a decade ago, potentially refuting a defense position the alleged abuse by the teacher was recently "fabricated" by attorneys and students who filed civil claims under New York's Child Victims Act of 2019.

McDonald said the former Bay Shore student told three college teammates about the alleged abuse in a dorm room in February 2009.

"He was confiding something deeply disturbing," McDonald told the jury. He said the complainant had been suspended from their track team for "striking" a teammate and he had also slapped a girlfriend on campus. He described him as "a lot of fun to be around," but said alcohol brought out his anger.

On cross examination, defense attorney Steven Politi, of Central Islip, questioned the memory of McDonald and fellow witness Tiffany McKelvy, a lifelong friend of the same complainant, who testified she was told about the alleged abuse after he left college.

Politi honed in on dates, times and names the two witnesses couldn't specifically recall. The attorney questioned how McKelvy could testify to details about the case, including that the complainant and other students spent time at lunch with Bernagozzi, but couldn't remember the names of her own elementary school teachers.

When McDonald repeatedly referred to Suffolk Police Det. Patrick Boyles, the lead investigator in the case, as Det. Doyle, Politi asked him to clarify the name, underscoring the mistaken detail about a person he met days ago.

"It's Doyle," McDonald insisted. "It's not a memory issue. It's Doyle."

Assistant District Attorney MacDonald Drane followed up on redirect by pressing McDonald on why his memory of the abuse allegation is so strong.

"When somebody tells you that they've been molested as a child ... it's something you never forget," McDonald told the jury.

McKelvy expressed remorse for not fully supporting her friend when she first learned of the alleged abuse. She sent him a message on social media in 2022 saying she now better understood what he confided in her after reading a news report of allegations against Bernagozzi, according to testimony.

The jury also heard from another former Bay Shore student Tuesday who alleged he saw Bernagozzi touch the same complainant and apply powder to his body while the boy was naked in a locker room. Prosecutors have shared images from negatives found in the former teacher's home of him on outings with the two boys.

 Suffolk police opened the investigation into Bernagozzi after 45 former Bay Shore students filed Child Victims Act claims against the district alleging the retired teacher sexually abused them, prosecutors have said. Most of the lawsuits, which were allowed under a look-back window from 2019-21, 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. 

Politi told the jury during opening statements last week he believes the allegations against his client were "fabricated" by men who targeted the teacher by filing civil claims for the "singular purpose of making money."

Politi noted for the jury that the three complainants never reported the abuse to parents, police or school officials at the time and suggested they first told their stories when contacted by a civil attorney more than 20 years later.

All three complainants in the criminal case have settled their claims with the school district or its insurers, court records show.

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.