Jamaica church, ex-teacher sued twice for child sex abuse under state victim’s law
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St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Jamaica is named as a defendant in a Child Victims Act lawsuit filed Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court. Google Maps
By David Brand
A former scoutmaster and teacher at a Greek Orthodox school in Jamaica has now been sued twice for sexually abusing kids in the 1970s and 80s.
The latest complaint, filed Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court, accuses former St. Demetrios Jamaica Day School teacher Lawrence Svrcek of “sexually assaulting, abusing and molesting” a student throughout 1978 and 1979. The plaintiff was in seventh grade when the abuse occurred, according to his attorney, Eric Siegle.
Svrcek has been sued at least one other time under the Child Victims Act, a 2019 law that enables survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil complaints against their abusers and the institutions that enabled them regardless of when the abuse occurred.
The plaintiff, identified as C.R. in court papers, also named St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, located at 84-35 152nd St., and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in the complaint, claiming the two institutions did nothing to stop the abuse against C.R. and other children.
St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church “was aware of allegations of sexual misconduct by Svrcek against students at the Jamaica Day School and/or other places, [but] took no action,” the lawsuit claims.
When contacted by phone, office staff at the church and archdiocese said they would forward requests for comment to their superiors. Neither provided a response for this story.
Siegle said C.R. decided to break years of silence and come forward after learning about the CVA and the earlier complaint filed against Svrcek.
“It’s taken a long number of years to realize what transpired, and for him not to be ashamed and embarrassed by it and to have the fortitude to come forward and seek treatment,” Siegle said.
“It took him a long time to deal with issues in his life and he’s finally in a good place to deal with this.”
The first lawsuit against Svrcek and St. Demetrios was filed in October 2019 and also names the Boy Scouts of America as a defendant. The plaintiff, identified as N.R., claims Svrcek molested him from 1977 to 1982 when Svrcek was a scoutmaster and a science and gym teacher at the Jamaica school.
Svrcek molested the plaintiff in his office and on numerous camping trips, sometimes after giving the child alcohol, the complaint states.
That lawsuit claims that St. Demetrios church continued to employ Svrcek even after N.P. told officials about the sexual abuse. Svrcek was removed as a scoutmaster, the complaint states.
“Rather than taking steps to prevent Lawrence Svrcek from sexually assaulting children, including removing him from a position of trust and confidence with, authority over, young boys, the Supervisory Defendants instead turned a blind eye while Lawrence Svrcek repeatedly molested N.P. over a five period,” the complaint continues.
The attorney representing Svrcek did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
After a two-month suspension due to COVID-19, new CVA filings resumed May 25. At least four CVA lawsuits have since been filed in Queens, according to the Office of Court Administration’s most recent report. Another 62 were filed in Brooklyn, 21 in Manhattan and 11 in the Bronx.
The filing suspension spurred state lawmakers to extend the 2019 law’s “lookback window,” which allows survivors to file lawsuits regardless of when the abuse occurred, until August 2021.
