Hampton Bays family sues LI diocese; alleges church officials did not protect daughter from priest

A Hampton Bays family is suing the Diocese of Rockville Centre, alleging church officials did not protect their daughter, now 8, from a priest who was on probation after pleading guilty to forcibly touching a 12-year-old girl in Brooklyn in a separate incident.

The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Queens on Monday, also accuses the priest's order, the Congregation of the Mission, known as the Vincentians, of failing to safeguard children from the Rev. Augusto Cortez.

Cortez, 52, worked at St. Rosalie parish in Hampton Bays and was part of the Diocese of Rockville Centre's Spanish Apostolate, according to the court papers. In 2009, he pleaded guilty in the Brooklyn case and was sentenced to 6 years' probation along with restrictions limiting his access to children.

A spokeswoman for the Southampton Town police said Tuesday that authorities believe Cortez may be in Guatemala, the homeland of both the priest and the family. Police are working with U.S. marshals to try to return Cortez to the United States, she said.

Michael Dowd, an attorney for the family who has represented dozens of alleged sex-abuse victims, said Tuesday the case shows the diocese still is not vigilant enough, even after the sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic church worldwide starting in 2002.

"Are they taking it seriously enough? No," Dowd said. "They're letting him run around on Long Island unchecked and unsupervised and unmonitored."

Diocesan spokesman Sean Dolan said the diocese "hadn't been informed legally and so we wouldn't comment on a legal action that hasn't occurred yet. If and when it would happen, the diocese does not comment on pending or current litigation."

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The Vincentians, in a statement Tuesday, said they suspended Cortez from religious ministry seven years ago, in 2008, and "since that time he was under active supervision" of the New York City Department of Probation.

Cortez "was prohibited by the Vincentian Order from holding himself out as a priest, could not engage in public ministry, and, as with his probation restrictions, could not be alone in the presence of children," the order said.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and we will continue to assist law enforcement officials to bring the fugitive Cortez to justice. Issues from this lawsuit must be dealt with in court," the order's statement said.

The New York City Department of Probation said in a statement: "We have robust supervision policies in place to monitor our clients and ensure they comply with the terms of their probation. We were saddened to hear of this incident. Our officers followed up and immediately filed a violation of probation."

The family had a decadelong friendship with Cortez that ended after Cortez was at their home for a high school graduation party for the girl's older sister in 2014, the family told Newsday last year.

The mother said then that she walked into the family's living room and saw her younger daughter looking scared and disheveled on the couch. Cortez was zipping up the fly of his pants, she said at the time.

Southampton Town police questioned Cortez but let him go and allowed him to get his car, the family said.

Cortez allegedly abused the girl on certain dates between 2009 and 2014, the lawsuit states. She was born in September 2007.

Dowd said the family never learned or was told that Cortez had pleaded guilty to the Brooklyn charges.

The lawsuit alleges Cortez was able to sexually abuse the girl because of the "reckless and grossly negligent conduct" of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the priest's religious order.