Posted on 08/11/2004 12:25:05 PM PDT by sidewalk
ALBANY - Nearly 25 years after he was allegedly molested as a teenager by local defrocked priest Dozia Wilson, 38-year-old Joseph Woodward finally got the chance to tell his painful story of abuse to prosecutors and law enforcement officials in Massachusetts.
"It was like having a 100-pound weight taken off my back to finally have officials interested in my situation and in carefully discerning the facts," said Woodward, befriended by Wilson when he was 14 in 1980 at St. Ann's Church in Fort Ann [NY].
The Suffolk County DA's interest in the case was prompted by a civil complaint lodged by Woodward's attorney John Aretakis against Wilson.
Woodward sat with DA investigators Kelly Nunan and Emil Nunez-Rivera, as well as Sgt. John McDonough from the Suffolk County Police Department, last Friday for a 3½-hour interview.
He says there were also members of the DA's office watching from a concealed window and asking the investigators questions while they interviewed him. The experience was "nerve- wracking" for Woodward at first, but he said once he settled down he was amazed at how "compassionate" the group was about "my situation."
"This was the day that I would finally get the chance to tell how Dozia Wilson used me to gratify his need for young boys," said Woodward. "I could tell how (Albany Bishop Howard) Hubbard knew Father Wilson liked young boys and let him continue representing his diocese before he secretly sent him to my hometown."
Woodward also said the investigators claimed they were "familiar" with Wilson and the long history he has of allegedly sexually abusing young boys in Albany and Boston.
He and Aretakis added how "disappointed" they were that "no one" from the Albany District Attorney's Office has "ever" shown "any" interest in investigating their case against Wilson.
"It's been so many years and I've never encountered any kind of help from the Albany Diocese or law enforcement (agencies) here in Albany," said Woodward. "It's too bad this was never dealt with in Albany.
"But, to me, Boston's interest in my story means this case is not dead and because he's such a bad priest ... I don't think they're going to have to dig too deep to find evidence," he added.
Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne has said in the past there is nothing he can do in cases like these, in which the statute of limitations has already run out. Clyne could not be reached for comment Tuesday. However, Aretakis contends that district attorney's offices in Massachusetts appear to be "more aggressive" and "pro-active" in "protecting children" and "past victims" in clergy sex abuse cases.
"I'm gratified, because we've finally found a government agency, albeit in a different state, who accepts and appreciates the courage of my client and his story," said Aretakis.
"I think this gives other victims the strength and encouragement to come forward because there are government agencies that care, but don't happen to be in New York right now," he added.
In the 1980s, Woodward lived with Wilson for short time and claims the priest distracted him with gifts, trips and drugs so he could sexually molest him.
The victim also claims he was repeatedly transported across state lines to Massachusetts by Wilson and sexually abused.
Wilson was removed from the Albany Diocese and sent to the Boston Archdiocese after getting caught with two boys in an Albany hotel.
Hubbard was not bishop at the time of Wilson's removal, but he was the Albany Diocese leader when Wilson was returned to Albany after more allegations surfaced in Boston.
Wilson was finally removed from ministry in 1993 by Hubbard, but still somehow managed to land a job at the St. Christopher Residential Treatment Center in Dobbs Ferry [NY], where had had access to hundreds of children from dysfunctional backgrounds.
He has since left that position after being found beaten into unconsciousness by a male prostitute in 2003.
Wilson never pressed charges against the prostitute, who also stole his money and car.
Last year, the Albany Diocese paid out an estimated $500,000 to an Albany resident who also had a case against Wilson.
It should be noted that Boston investigators do have more leeway on cases in which the statute of limitations has run out, due to a pattern of cover-up that was found to be so far-reaching within the Boston Archdiocese, which recently settled an $85 million suit with hundreds of passed victims.
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