The first lawsuit has been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester under the New York Child Victims Act. It lays allegations of sexual abuse against the Diocese and several parishes and Catholic organizations.
The suit was filed this week on behalf of a 55-year-old Rochester area man who was five when the alleged abuse took place at the hands of Father Francis Vogt. The victim's attorney is Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, who told 13 WHAM that his client was abused when Fr. Vogt would take him swimming at the old Catholic Youth Organization pool on Chestnut Street.
Garabedian says this was a case of people knowing and not talking about what was going on. Father Vogt has been accused previously of abusing young boys. He died in 2006.