Allegations of sex abuse within the Catholic Church have been widespread for years, but it’s not often that someone from within the clergy talks about the problem.
Richard Cardillo is one of the few who will.
Cardillo was a Christian Brother — a member of the teaching order within the Catholic Church — from 1976 to 1990. He described child sex abuse as an accepted part of the culture, only spoken about in whispers.
Cardillo said the hushed conversations would include questions like, “I wonder what he did with that kid? And I wonder where he got caught? Can he keep it in his pants?”
Before joining the order himself, Cardillo said he experienced this behavior firsthand, allegedly abused by a brother on a field trip during his junior year of high school at Iona Prep in Westchester.
“He came into the bed next to me and automatically started caressing me, started rubbing me all over,” recalled Cardillo.
Cardillo is represented by Jennifer Freeman of Marsh Law Firm.
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