Lawyers give final arguments to jury in former teacher Thomas Bernagozzi child sex abuse case

The Bay Shore school district was negligent and reckless for failing to investigate or remove a third-grade teacher following reports of sexual abuse, an attorney for a former student argued during closing arguments Wednesday in the first Child Victims Act case against the district to go to trial.

Plaintiff’s attorney Jeffrey Herman, of Herman Law, a nationwide sexual-abuse law firm with offices in Manhattan, said the evidence presented during four days of testimony showed the district had notice of teacher Thomas Bernagozzi's abuse of other students prior to his client being enrolled in Bernagozzi’s class in 1990 and therefore "knew or should have known" the danger he presented to others.

"Reckless behavior is when you know something’s dangerous and you don’t stop it," Herman told the jury seated before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Christopher Modelewski in Riverhead. "Knowing a child molester is in the school that you leave [teaching] is one of the most reckless things a person can imagine taking place."

Lewis Silverman, of Silverman and Associates in White Plains, who is representing the school district, said he would not deny the allegations against Bernagozzi, who has been criminally charged. But he disputed the district had actual notice of the alleged abuse. Silverman said it’s Bernagozzi, who the district has countersued, who bears the full responsibility.

"Don’t let him get away with it," Silverman told the jury, saying they should assign "the full 100%" of any potential damages to the teacher, who he called a "wolf in sheep’s clothing."

Samuel DiMeglio, of Huntington, who is defending Bernagozzi from the third-party complaint filed by the district, reminded jurors that his client denied the allegations. DiMeglio said if the jury finds the abuse did occur, the fault lies with the district.

The anonymous plaintiff, identified only as P.L. in the Child Victims Act claim filed in 2021, testified that he was 8 to 9 years old when Bernagozzi sexually abused him by touching his genitals while he sat on the teacher’s lap, showered with and was changed by him while a student in his third-grade class at Gardiner Manor Elementary School during the 1990-91 school year.

The abuse took place in the classroom at the school, during after school programs Bernagozzi ran or on outings to a health club, a public beach and swimming pools, the plaintiff said. The jury also heard directly from four other former students who made similar allegations of abuse or corroborated the plaintiff’s testimony at trial.

Modelewski instructed the jury, which deliberated for about an hour Wednesday, that it must determine if the evidence showed the abuse occurred and if the district received actual notice prior to the plaintiff’s allegations. The jury must also decide if the district was negligent for failing to investigate the allegations and reckless for keeping Bernagozzi employed.

Silverman, during his closing argument, called Bernagozzi’s denials an effort to "manipulate" the jury.

But Silverman also argued parents who testified they reported concerns to administrators in the five years before the plaintiff was in Bernagozzi’s class failed to give actual notice to the district, and he questioned why they never filed police reports. Two of those parents never made allegations of any sexual abuse, he reminded the jurors. Another parent, Silverman said, gave an "unclear" account in court of what actually happened to her son.

That mother, whom Newsday has not named since her son is an anonymous plaintiff in another CVA claim against Bay Shore, testified that she confronted Bernagozzi about the abuse in 1988 and took her concerns soon after to principal Lawrence Senecal at Gardiner Manor Elementary School. She said the teacher fondled her son’s genitals while putting powder down his pants during after-school sports.

Silverman said the testimony of the mom may have been driven by guilt over the trust she placed in Bernagozzi and that the version of events she told the court may be what she "wants to remember." He called the reliability of the mother’s testimony "the crux of the case."

DiMeglio, the attorney for Bernagozzi, said the testimony the mother gave does constitute actual notice and "nothing was done," and said the district labeled his client a "master manipulator" to deflect from that fact.

"I submit to you that putting all these labels on my client, it's just a cover-up for the district's failure to do what they were supposed to do, protect the children," DiMeglio said.

Herman asked the jury to consider the lack of denials by anyone but Bernagozzi over the allegations of abuse and the defense’s decision not to call any district administrators to testify when reaching a verdict.

Herman said that while Bernagozzi may have presented himself as a sheep to parents, Bay Shore "knew he was the wolf."

The Child Victims Act is a state law that opened a temporary window for alleged victims of child sex abuse to file claims seeking damages. Before the law, victims of childhood sexual abuse could not file claims once they reached 23 years old.

Bay Shore faced 45 Child Victims Act lawsuits citing Bernagozzi, the most of any Long Island district. Five cases were previously settled by the district for $20.25 million and two claims were settled through insurance.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office brought charges in December against Bernagozzi, 75, for sodomy, sexual conduct against a child and possession of child sexual abuse material. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

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.