Father Cornelius T. Otero
Diocese of Brooklyn
Ordained: 1949
Died: 1998
Assigned as follows:
- 1959-1966: Queen of All Saints (Brooklyn, NY)
- 1967-1971: St. Teresa’s (Woodside, NY)
- 1972-1980: St. Joan of Arc (Jackson Heights, NY)
Summary of Abuse Allegations against Father Cornelius T Otero:
According to media reports, in 1979, Fr. Cornelius T Otero was arrested for selling child pornography to an undercover police officer. He became an informant for the New York Police Department to avoid jail time. He transferred to Hartford, Connecticut in 1988 where he worked at St. Francis Hospital until 1995.
In August 2018, a man publicly accused Otero of sexually abusing him as a 10-or 11-year-old boy in the summer of 1977 or 1978 when the boy attended the St. Joan of Arc summer camp in Jackson Heights, New York. The alleged abuse included ordering the boy to strip to photograph him naked, as well as forced oral sex.
“He told me it was our secret game with God and if I told anyone, I would die and go to hell,” the man said.
In June 2018, the Diocese of Brooklyn offered Otero’s accuser $200,0000 to be paid through its Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) for victims of clergy sex abuse. He refused it, and later that year filed a civil lawsuit against the eight New York dioceses which claimed the dioceses covered up crimes committed by priests.
In February 2019, Otero’s name appeared publicly on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s list of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse of minors.
Otero died in January 1998.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Brooklyn. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Brooklyn, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Brooklyn now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims. Call us at 888-283-9922 or send an email to [email protected] to discuss your options today.