Victim Impact statements

The sentencing of the 77-year-old Babylon resident will continue with victim impact statements, followed by statements and a sentencing recommendation by prosecutors.

The court will then hear from defense attorney Steven Politi, who will seek a lenient sentence, before Bernagozzi is given the opportunity to make his own statement.

Wilutis will then likely make brief remarks before issuing her sentence.

Bernagozzi is facing a a maximum sentence of 54 years — 25 years each on the abuse charges and 4 years on the child pornography charges. The sentence on each charge can run consecutively since they did not arise from a single act or incident. The judge, however, does have discretion to issue fewer years, and the sentence on each charge can run concurrently, meaning at the same time for fewer total years than if they were stacked.

Prosecutors alleged at trial that Bernagozzi took advantage of the "blind trust" of parents when he abused students for his sexual gratification. A popular teacher in the district's elementary schools from 1970 to 2000, Bernagozzi created extracurricular programs to form "twisted and manipulative" relationships with young boys, Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney MacDonald Drane told the jury during opening arguments.

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."

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.