Bay Shore school district kept teacher Thomas Bernagozzi in classroom despite sexual abuse allegations, attorney tells jurors

The Bay Shore school district kept a third-grade teacher in the classroom for decades despite allegations from parents and a former student that he was sexually abusing young boys, an attorney argued during opening statements in the first Child Victims Act case against the district to go to trial.

Jeffrey Herman, of Herman Law, a nationwide sexual abuse law firm with offices in Manhattan, said in the half-decade before the plaintiff was a student in Thomas Bernagozzi’s class at Gardiner Manor Elementary School, four people reported to district leadership concerns over the extra time the teacher spent with male students or made allegations that he was a "pedophile" who touched students inappropriately.

"The school district didn’t believe these kids; didn’t take them seriously," Herman told the six-member jury seated before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Christopher Modelewski in Riverhead. "They didn’t believe the parents ... They still don’t believe them."

But an attorney for the district told jurors that parents did not ask to have their children removed from his class, adding that Bernagozzi’s personnel file was filled with letters from parents praising the teacher and asking for their students to be placed in his class.

Lewis Silverman, of Silverman and Associates in White Plains, who is representing the school district, told the jury he expects the evidence will show the district "did not breach its duty" to protect the students as they did not have actual notice of the abuse. He called Bernagozzi both a "master teacher" and "master manipulator," who "beguiled and fooled" the school community during his three decades teaching there from 1970 until his retirement in 2000.

"He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing," Silverman said of Bernagozzi, whom the district has countersued.

The anonymous plaintiff, identified only as P.L. in the Child Victims Act claim filed in 2021, was a student in Bernagozzi’s third-grade class at Gardiner Manor Elementary School during the 1990-91 school year. Herman said the plaintiff was 8 to 9 years old when Bernagozzi sexually abused him by rubbing his midsection against him as the child sat in his lap, showered with him and touched the boy’s private areas with his hands and mouth. The abuse took place at the school, a health club and public beaches and swimming pools, Herman said.

"This happened to him the entire school year," said Herman, who added the abuse occurred two to three times per week as Bernagozzi gave the student extra attention through an after-school sports club and school play he oversaw.

Attorney Samuel DiMeglio, of Huntington, who is defending Bernagozzi against the claim by the district, asked the jury to "keep an open mind." He said he believes the four men and two women seated on the jury will find the evidence does not show the district is liable for the allegations or that his client should be held accountable for a portion of any potential damages. 

The jury also heard from a pair of witnesses Thursday: a father of one of Bernagozzi’s students, who said he reported concerns over Bernagozzi taking his son and others to a private health club outside of school hours to a school principal in 1985, and a student who said he was sexually abused by Bernagozzi in the 1987-88 school year.

That student, who has also filed an anonymous Child Victims Act claim against Bay Shore, said he told his parents Bernagozzi touched and kissed him. Herman said the former student’s mother will be called Friday to testify to informing a building principal of the abuse that school year.

"My mother went ballistic," the former student testified of the day he reported the alleged abuse. "She started screaming."

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. The window to file lawsuits ended in 2021. 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. Two additional claims have been settled through insurance.

Each former student involved in the lawsuits alleged Bernagozzi sexually abused them.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office has since brought charges 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.

 Bernagozzi is expected to testify in the civil trial next week. Modelewski has allowed him to give testimony remotely from a location within the county jail, where he has been held since June.

Bay Shore Superintendent Steven Maloney, who is also expected to testify in the case, watched Thursday’s opening arguments from the first row of the courtroom along with Maureen Virsinger, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, and members of the Bay Shore Board of Education. 

The trial will continue Friday morning with cross-examination of the former student.

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.