Retired Rockville Centre Catholic priest Kenneth Hasselbach has been arrested in Hollywood Florida for possessing child pornography on his two computers. The US Attorney’s office stated that Hasselbach has admitted to the child porn on his computers as well as carrying on conversations with minor boys in Internet chat rooms.
Hasselbach retired in 1994 due to “medical issues”. However, a sexual abuse allegation was lodged against him in 1993 by Robert Sammarco. Sammarco came forward with the sex abuse allegation in 1993. For years, Sammarco didn’t come forward because the Catholic priest had threatened to expose him and the abuse he suffered at the hands of the priest. The abuse lasted from the time Sammarco was 12 until he was 17 years old.
In a 2002 interview with Newsday, the priest admitted abusing Sammarco although he downplayed it by saying Sammarco exaggerated it.
In the midst of this latest arrest, the New York State Legislature is considering a bill that would allow survivors like Robert Sammarco to bring their abusers to justice. This bill would create a one-year window during which the five-year statute of limitations on filing lawsuits in child sex abuse cases would be dropped. This would allow alleged victims to file lawsuits in the state regardless of when the abuse occurred. The bill would also extend the statute of limitations for future cases from five years to 10 years. It is counted from the alleged victim’s 18th birthday, meaning they would have until 28 years of age to file a lawsuit instead of 23.
For courageous men who’ve suffered too long, I urge the NY State Legislature to pass the Child Victims Act. This case is one of thousands in NY where lives have been devastated by sexual abuse. Priests like Hasselbach need to pay for their crimes and dioceses like Rockville Centre need to be held accountable for their lack of action and secrecy. In spite of the 1993 allegation, Rockville Centre allowed this priest to “retire” to Florida where he now stands charged with possessing child pornography on his computer. We don’t know if he continued to abuse children in the 16 years since Robert Sammarco’s revelation.