A retired Long Island teacher who prosecutors said used his authority to sexually abuse children on trips to the beach and pools was sentenced to up to five decades in prison Wednesday in what the district attorney called justice “long overdue.”
Thomas Bernagozzi, 77, was slapped with a prison term of 33 1/3 years to 50 years in a case that was jumpstarted by a state law that allows child sexual abuse survivors to file civil lawsuits against their alleged tormenters.
“Justice has been long overdue for the survivors who bravely came forward to hold their abuser accountable,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.
“This defendant violated the sacred trust placed in him as an educator, causing profound harm to the children in his care.”
Bernagozzi, a third-grade teacher at two elementary schools in the Bay Shore school system between 1970 and 2000, used the school’s plays and sports programs to gain students’ trust while also taking them to local beaches, pools, gyms and Broadway shows outside of work, prosecutors said.
During those events and activities, the pervert carried out his sickening actions, according to the district attorney’s office.
Bernagozzi, of Babylon, first faced legal trouble when at least 45 people filed lawsuits several years ago against the Bay Shore district and the educator thanks to the Child Victims Act, which allowed victims of child sex abuse to file civil claims that were once restricted by a statute of limitations
But Suffolk police and prosecutors determined Bernagozzi could still face criminal charges for sexually abusing two boys, who were both under 12 years old, the district attorney said.
Investigators also found thousands of photos that showed boys who went to his school shirtless and posed, with one having their genitals exposed when they raided his home in December 2023.
A jury convicted him on a count each of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and first-degree sodomy, as well as three counts of possessing sexual performance by a child in February.
“We are grateful to the survivors for their courage in testifying at trial, as well as all the additional survivors whose abuse was time-barred but not forgotten,” Tierney stated.
“We hope this outcome provides some measure of closure as they continue their healing.”
A call to Bernagozzi’s lawyer was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon. Attorney Steven Politi previously claimed his client was being falsely accused.
