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Victims Of Croton Priest Get $250K Each From Archdiocese

Three Hudson Valley men abused by a Croton-on-Hudson Catholic priest decades ago will receive $250,000 each in compensation from the New York Archdiocese.

Gennaro "Jerry" Gentile

Gennaro "Jerry" Gentile

Photo Credit: bishopaccountability.org

Three men filed claims earlier this year, stating that Gennaro “Jerry” Gentile, who worked as a priest for nine Hudson Valley parishes over the span of several decades before being removed from the ministry in 2002, molested them repeatedly for years.

The payout is part of the Archdiocese’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, which reviewed the claims of the three men. The Archdiocese has paid out more than $40 million under the program.

Gentile worked at Holy Name of Mary in Croton-on-Hudson, St. Mary's in Wappingers Falls, St. Joseph's Seminary and St. Eugene's in Yonkers, St. Mary's in Poughkeepsie, St. Denis in Hopewell Junction and Immaculate Conception in Tuckahoe. Gentile allegedly abused the three men - whose names have not been made public - while working at Holy Name of Mary.

Gentile’s victims were reportedly between the ages of 9 and 15 at the time of the abuse. The reverend allegedly showed his victims pornography and abused them during trips to his lake camp in Saratoga.

Other Hudson Valley priests who have been accused of abuse in recent years include:

  • Rev. Richard Gorman, who worked at St. Barnabas Church in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx about a block away from Yonkers, was removed in January 2016 after being accused of abusing Westchester minors.
  • Rev. Peter Kihm, who was removed from Good Shepherd in Rhinebeck in 2016 following abuse allegations after earlier working in Westchester and Rockland.
  • Rev. Ralph LaBelle, who was laicized after being removed from Sacred Heart Church in Patterson in 2002.
  • Rev. John O’Keefe, the president of Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, from 1992 until 2004 and then the monsignor at St. Margaret of Antioch Church in Pearl River for 10 years before being removed from the priesthood in December 2015.
  • Rev. Francis Stinner taught at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, was a priest at St. Joseph Church in Bronxville and was also gave mass at St. Mary in Chappaqua. He was laicized in 2005, years after a parent first reported abuse allegations in 1988. 

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