Clergy sexual abuse lawsuit can proceed against Russian Orthodox church, appeals court rules

A man says Russian Orthodox church organizations failed to protect him from abuse as a child when he was an altar server in Passaic County.

A New Jersey appeals court has reversed a lower court decision in a lawsuit filed by a man who says a Russian Orthodox priest repeatedly sexually abused him as a child in the 1990s.

The Appellate Division ruled Friday that a jury should decide whether St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Brotherhood of Singac and Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Parishes in the USA failed to properly supervise the priest and establish safeguards against child sexual abuse. The judges upheld the dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim that the church organizations negligently hired the priest.

Identified as J.G. in court records to protect his privacy, the plaintiff began attending St. John the Baptist in Little Falls in 1994, when he was 5 or 6 years old. He attended Sunday school and later became an altar server under the direction of Archpriest Father Kosich, the parish’s only assigned priest at the time.

J.G. alleges that Kosich began touching him inappropriately shortly after he started attending the church and that the conduct escalated to rape. According to court records, the abuse occurred before Mass in areas restricted to priests and altar servers, as well as in the church basement and rectory.

The alleged abuse continued for three years and ended in 1997, when J.G. was 8. Kosich is now dead.

J.G. did not tell his parents or church officials about the alleged abuse at the time. Neither church organization received a complaint about Kosich before J.G. filed his lawsuit in 2021 under New Jersey’s Child Victims Act, according to court records.

A Passaic County judge dismissed the case, finding that the organizations were not notified about Kosich’s alleged behavior and therefore could not have foreseen it.

The Appellate Division disagreed with that reasoning as it applied to supervision claims.

The judges found that the church organizations assumed responsibilities similar to those of a parent while J.G. attended Sunday school. His parents had placed him in Kosich’s care for religious instruction and church duties, giving the organizations an obligation to take reasonable steps to protect him, the judges said.

A church representative testified that child sexual abuse by clergy was “always on” the parishes’ radar. He also described an oral policy under which children were not supposed to be alone with a clergy member. At least two adults were expected to be present.

The appeals court said a jury could find that the organizations were in a position to discover the alleged abuse, which occurred on church property over three years. The organizations did not have written policies specifically prohibiting sexual abuse or establishing procedures for reporting, investigating, and addressing allegations, according to court records.

Those facts could allow a jury to conclude that the organizations failed to enforce safeguards, properly supervise Kosich, or create effective reporting procedures, the judges found.

The court upheld the dismissal of the negligent hiring claim because J.G. presented no evidence that the organizations knew or should have known Kosich posed a danger when they hired him. The case will return to the Passaic County Superior Court.