A 60-year-old male patient recovering from surgery at Roosevelt Hospital claims that he was molested by a 61-year-old fellow male patient. The victim, whose name hasn't been revealed, says he was recovering from spinal surgery in a room late Friday when Stevan Ward, who was being treated for drug withdrawal symptoms, came into his room and molested him: “[The victim] was heavily sedated from his medication,” said the victim's lawyer, Abby Sonin. more ›

For the fifth time in the last month, a city school worker has been charged with sexually molesting children in school. Brett Picou, a 30-year-old art teacher at Public School 52 in Queens, has been accused of sexually abusing six 9- and 10-year-old girls at the school. Picou is awaiting arraignment on seven felony counts of sexual abuse, one felony count of repeated sexual abuse of a child and seven misdemeanor counts of forcible touching. One of the alleged 9-year-old victims described his behavior to NBC: "He was touching my ears like this, and tickling me in my neck. He's always saying, 'Oh, do you miss me? 'Cause if you didn't miss me, you would have hugged me.'" more ›

One of the men who accused longtime Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexual abuse has admitted he made up the molestation story. According to Syracuse Post-Standard, Floyd “David” VanHooser—who is currently serving 16 years to life in prison for various burglary-related charges—wrote in a letter that he lied to police and reporters about Fine because he was upset Fine did not hire a lawyer for him to fight his most recent criminal conviction. He also wrote a second letter (read them both here) directly to Fine, apologizing and explaining his behavior: "I can't put into words how mad I've been at the world...I believe if you had got a good lawyer for me I would have done better than 16 to life or as I see it 16 to death." more ›

A third victim has accused a longtime assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University of sexually abusing him as a child. Bernie Fine, who has coached at Syracuse for 35 years, has already been accused of molesting family friend Bobby Davis “hundreds of times” over a ten-year period, beginning when he was entering seventh grade, as well as Davis' stepbrother Mike Lang. Now Zach Tomaselli, 23, claims Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room when Tomaselli was 13 years old. more ›

A longtime assistant basketball coach at Syracuse University has been placed on administration leave after being accused of molesting two former ball boys. Bobby Davis, 39, said that coach Bernie Fine, who has coached at Syracuse for 35 years, molested him “hundreds of times” over a ten-year period, beginning in 1983, when he was entering seventh grade. The second alleged victim, Mike Lang, now 45, is Davis' stepbrother, and was also a ball boy for several years—he claims Fine started molesting him in fifth or sixth grade. more ›

In the wake of the horrible and graphic charges of pedophilia and sexual misconduct brought against longtime Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky this weekend, Penn State's legendary coach Joe Paterno announced today that he will be retiring at the end of the football season. The decision might not be his to make though, as the Penn State Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the rapidly metastasizing scandal. more ›

A retired Brooklyn monsignor was arrested yesterday and accused of attempting to molest two teenage boys this past Thursday. Msgr. Thomas Brady, 78, was charged with attempting a "criminal sex act" toward two teenage boys. “It’s devastating,” said Stefanie Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of Brooklyn, who placed Brady on administrative leave. “He was a well-regarded pastor. He’s loved in the parish.” more ›

"Touching students and whispering in their ear are acceptable practices to maintain order in the library," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez ruled yesterday. And with that former Stuyvesant High School librarian Christopher Asch was vindicated after years of being stigmatized as a pervert. In 2009 the openly gay Asch had been sent to the rubber room after a student claimed he had inappropriately touched him. more ›

A man reportedly molested two young boys in a Borough Park synagogue within minutes of each other on Wednesday afternoon. The incidents happened at Simcha Hall, which serves the Belz sect of the Hasids in the neighborhood, around 4 p.m. A "young man" dressed as a Hasid asked a 12-year-old boy to help him move some Jewish books then "pushed the boy into the bathroom," pulled down the boy's pants and proceeded to molest him. The Post reports that less than an hour after the first attack, the same man allegedly pulled another young boy into the synagogue's basement and began to molest him. more ›

In his new autobiography to be published in June, former boxing champion and "Dancing With The Stars" contestant Sugar Ray Leonard reveals on page 38 that he was sexually molested by his Olympic boxing coach when he was a teenager. In addition to being made to take a bath with another teenager while the unnamed coach watched, Leonard recalls an encounter with the coach in which "Before I knew it, he had unzipped my pants and put his hand, then mouth, on an area that has haunted me for life. I didn't scream. I didn't look at him. I just opened the door and ran." more ›

The high ranking New York-based priest who was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenager by a church tribunal last year and defrocked is suing his accuser for defamation. Monsignor Charles Kavanagh, who formerly led St. Raymond's parish in the Bronx, and was the chief fund-raiser for the Archdiocese of New York, says that former seminary student Daniel Donohue repeatedly lied to reporters and changed his story around to extract a "monetary settlement from the New York Archdiocese." more ›

It's never a good thing when a young witness identifies a photo as, "Uncle Joe, bad person." Joseph Passof, the head counselor at the Flatbush Park Day Camp, is accused of molesting a 5-year-old boy in the bathroom at summer camp last summer. He was arrested Wednesday and pleaded not guilty yesterday, and lawyer Jay Cohen says that diabetes and high blood pressure has rendered Passof impotent. more ›

One of the more upsetting recent medical malpractice cases going has come to an unsatisfying conclusion. For the past three years Mikhail Sorodsky, 63, has been in jail waiting to face charges that he posed as a cancer doctor who would not only swindle dying immigrants out of their money but would also sexually abuse them while he was at it. He remained locked up since there was no way he could pay his $33 million bail (the highest on record in the state). Jury selection for the case was supposed to begin this week but that's over now since Sorodsky has made a plea deal. And it's a doozy. His 102-count indictment has been reduced down to 20 charges and Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Guy Mangano yesterday set down a sentence of six years (three of which he's already served). more ›

Jury selection for one of the creepier medical malpractice suits in recent history begins this week. Mikhail Sorodsky, 63, made headlines in 2009 when the alleged phony Brooklyn doctor was accused of sexually abusing his dying cancer patients and was smacked with an $11 million cash bail or $33 million bond—more than Bernie Madoff got and quite possibly the highest in State history. Now Sorodsky is getting ready to face a jury of his peers, with his 13th lawyer in tow (he apparently goes through attorneys quickly). more ›

Former Manhattan court juvenile counselor Tony Simmons, who was found guilty of molesting two teens but acquitted of a rape he had previously pleaded guilty to, has been sentenced to four years in prison. Simmons was initially sentenced to 10 years' probation for the crimes, but spent so much time talking about how much his victims enjoyed his behavior that a judge tossed out the deal and he faced trial a second time. Four years was the maximum sentence. more ›

More details about a Stamford, CT elementary school's terrible class trip, which involved a student's father being arrested for allegedly molesting some of the female students, have emerged. A 10-year-old girl told the Daily News that Tomas Manzano "came up to [her and her friend] and sat down, and started touching my friend and then he started touching me... I cried so much. I knew I had to go tell someone right away." more ›

Today a 22-year-old testified In Brooklyn Supreme Court that he was sexually molested by Borough Park Rabbi Baruch Lebovits. The young man, who's no longer part of the Hasidic community, was dressed in "jeans, white shirt, tie and a yarmulke" and spoke softly, according to the Daily News. "How did you feel?" asked the assistant district attorney. "Very uncomfortable and very confused," he responded. Lebovits will soon stand trial on charges of sodomizing two others, and has been accused of hundreds more counts of child rape and abuse [Pdf Charge Sheets]. Still, his lawyer called the witness a "con man" and warned the jury, "You're going to be sold a bill of goods." more ›

Only after a 22-year-old patient at the Bronx Psychiatric Center accused an employee of sexual abuse, did the facility realize it had hired a registered sex offender. According to the Daily News, the hospital wasn't aware that therapy aide trainee John Washington had a criminal record for "lewd assault and sexual battery against an underage male," even though he checked a box on his job application noting he had been convicted of a crime. A spokeswoman noted that Washington "did not describe an assault of any nature" when asked about his record, and said "[v]erification is not a requirement." After a probe, Bronx prosecutors did not press charges against Washington, who has resigned from his job. Last week, a 14-year-old boy said an employee and another patient sexually abused him in the state-run hospital. more ›

40-year-old Jonathan Huff, a Bronx high school dean who was just named Teacher of the Year in 2007, was arrested on charges of sexually abusing and forcibly touching a 14-year-old student. The incident at the all-male school allegedly took place over a weekend on one of the campuses Taft High School in Mount Eden. more ›

As Stuyvesant High School prepares for prom this weekend and the end of the school year to follow, word is that their school librarian has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse. The News reports that 56-year-old Christoper Asch is accused of inappropriate behavior with male students where he "massaged students' shoulders and backs, touched bellies and ran his hand through kids' hair." The Department of Education intends to fire Asch after having him reassigned to the rubber room last fall. According to a report obtained by the Post, "He'd creep the boys out even more by smirking or whispering in their ears to be quiet while he groped them in the library." His lawyer told reporters, "Mr. Christopher Asch categorically denies engaging in any inappropriate conduct with students, and ... intends to vigorously defend the charges." more ›

The rabbi accused of molesting his daughter throughout her adolescence was found guilty yesterday on all counts in Brooklyn federal court. Rabbi Israel Weingarten could face up to fifty years for the case, in which he represented himself and had to be disciplined by the judge for the tone he took while cross-examining the daughter who accused him. Outside the court, the woman, who has now left the Satmar sect, spoke to reporters about what the cross-examination was like saying, "Like being molested again. He thought he still had power over me. I think it was cruel to do that to me." While her mother and brother testified on her behalf—the latter claiming the father brainwashed his children—the victim's six younger siblings supported their father. After the verdict, one said, "My sister? I didn't look at her. She's not even human." more ›

As if taking the stand was not difficult enough for a woman who accuses her father, a rabbi, of molesting her for years, yesterday she had to face him as he cross-examined her at the trial—Rabbi Israel Weingarten is representing himself. more ›

The police have released a sketch of a man suspected of molesting five different boys since last fall in the Gramercy Park area. The victims range in age from 11 to 15 and the most recent incidents were yesterday and Wednesday. MyFoxNY reports, "In each case, he grabbed the boy's buttocks from behind and then ran away. In one case, the man also kissed a boy on the cheek." The incidents took place in the morning or afternoon at 2nd Ave (btwn East 21st & East 22nd), corner of East 21st and 3rd Ave, corner of East 24th and 3rd Ave, on 2nd Ave (btwn East 20th & East 21st) and corner of 2nd Ave and East 22nd. The Daily News notes how there's a public school nearby on East 19th. The suspect is "described as male/Hispanic/20s to 30s, approximately 155 lbs., 5'5" tall.. medium build, with black hair and a light scar on the upper right side of his forehead." If you have information, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or text "TIPS" to CRIMES (274637) and then enter TIP577. more ›