Friends of Father Richard Gorman, a prominent Bronx clergyman, community leader, and activist  expressed shock and sadness just 24 hours after the Archdiocese of New York announced his suspension following accusations of child molestation.

The archdiocese issued a statement that revealed the alleged abuse “would have occurred 30 years ago. As usual the archdiocese immediately reported the allegations to law enforcement officials for investigation, who have deemed the allegations to be credible, although they have not yet been substantiated.” The Archdiocese revealed little details on the matter, though it was alleged to occur in Westchester County.

No longer permitted to publicly function as a priest until the matter is resolved, Gorman stepped down as chair of Community Board 12, which covers Williamsbridge, Baychester, Woodlawn, Wakefield, and Eastchester. His suspension forces him to stop in his capacity of a priest, and director of prison chaplains for the archdiocese.

Gorman had scaled back his community activism for almost a year, sidelined by a heart ailment and later, a problem with his foot and had been in and out of a local nursing home.

At an anti-violence rally on White Plains Road and East 221st Street Jan. 22, which Gorman would’ve likely attended, organizer Pastor Jay Gooding Sr. called Gorman “ a good man.”

“I don’t know anything, but have worked with him in the community down through the years. I know nothing but greatness about him,” said Gooding, adding Gorman “lives for the community.”

Activist and Community Board 11 member Joe Thompson said, “I don’t know what happened 30 years-ago, but any allegation of this nature has to be investigated.”

Thompson added, “I have complete confidence in Father Gorman being exonerated on this, but it’s like anybody else, like I could be accused and it would still be exposed and I would still have to explain it… somebody accuses you of something, you have to satisfy that accusation, so that’s part of being in public life.”

But Gorman’s attorney and longtime friend, Murray Richman, compared an accusation to an indictment these days, seeing the Archdiocese’s decision to suspend Gorman a reactionary decision against an institution who, in the past, was slow to remove confirmed pedophile priests. In Gorman’s case, Richman doesn’t think Gorman will “ever be charged.”

But the accusations against Gorman effectively end his career. When active, Gorman took on several quality of life issues in the Bronx, particularly in the northeast Bronx, where his duties as CB12 chair allowed him to highlight neighborhood grievances.

In one published report Attorney Mick Reck, who represents the initial unidentified victim, who was 13 years-old at the time of the alleged incident, claimed the case had been investigated since mid-2015 by the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Westchester District Attorney’s office– and had located additional victims and witnesses.

The Westchester District Attorney’s office was unavailable for comment, as was Community Board 12.

Additional reporting by David Cruz. 

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