Thomas
McGarvey was going through a hard time as a teenager in 1981 when he
first reached out to his parish priest, the Rev. Robert L. Brown, for
spiritual guidance and someone to talk to.
Instead, Mr. McGarvey said he became a victim. At age 16, he began sleeping over at the rectory of St. Catherine of Sienna Parish
in Franklin Square, N.Y, in Father Brown’s room, under the noses of the
other priests and staff, he said. It was there that the abuse occurred,
he alleged, in encounters ranging from fondling to rape. And through
the eight years it continued, from 1981 to 1989, Mr. McGarvey alleged,
no one helped him, even though he revealed the abuse in confessions with
other priests.