© Jordan Laird/The Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch
(Riverhead, NY) — A retired Long Island teacher accused of sexually abusing his third-graders is due in court today in Riverhead. Thomas Bernagozzi, a teacher who taught in the Bay Shore public schools for 30 years before retiring is 2003, is currently facing sex abuse charges involving two alleged victims. Prosecutors are calling Bernagozzi a serial child abuser who preyed on the young students he taught for decades. Fifty-six have stepped forward, in addition to 45 who’ve filed lawsuits under New York’s Child Victim’s Act. The 76-year-old has pleaded not guilty but if he’s convicted, he faces up to 25 years on each count.
Bernagozzi taught at Gardiner Manor and Mary Clarkson Elementary Schools between 1970 and 2000. Authorities say his victims were between the ages of five-and-thirteen-years-old. Bernagozzi was arrested in December.
