UES Priest Accused Of Abusing 8-Year-Old Boy: Lawsuit

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side Catholic Priest with the religious order known as the Dominican Friars has been accused of molesting a young boy, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Father Carleton Jones was serving at the Church of Saint Catherine of Siena on East 68th Street near First Avenue when he molested an 8-year-old boy, the lawsuit claims. The boy, raised in a devout Catholic family, was preparing for his first confession and first communion with Jones. The priest took advantage of the boy's "great admiration, trust, reverence and respect" due to his upbringing in the church.

Abuse occurred in the months leading up to the communion, and Jones eventually administered the sacrament to the boy, according to the lawsuit. Lawyers representing the abuse victim claimed that the Dominican Friars are responsible for his safety because he was participating in a youth program with the church at the time of the abuse.

The lawsuit is one of many filed since New York's Child Victims Act went into effect on Aug. 14. Abuse victims have a one-year window to file claims that were previously precluded by statutes of limitations.

"So many victims that had suffered from abuse for years, this is allowing them to seek justice," Attorney Evan Oshan, who is representing Jones' accuser, told Patch. "These claims were sort of swept under the rug, now they're not."

Oshan said his client had also filed a claim against Jones and the Dominican Friars last year, but "nothing was done to rectify the situation." In his limited communication with the religious order, the Dominican Friars have denied the claims of abuse because Oshan's client is the only victim to come forward.

A request for comment sent to the Dominican Friars was not immediately returned.

More than 400 abuse cases, including 169 in New York City, were filed across the state under the Child Victims Act on Wednesday, Aug. 14, according to the Office of Court Administration.

The Child Victims Act marked a significant update to state laws that were regarded among the worst in the nation for childhood abuse survivors.

In addition to opening the yearlong "look-back" window, it raises the maximum age at which survivors can bring civil cases related to their abuse to 55. It also allows criminal charges to be brought for felony sex offenses until the victim is 28 years old and allow charges for misdemeanor sex offenses to be brought until the victim is 25.

Read more about the Child Victims Act here.

Patch editor Noah Manskar contributed to this report.