Welcome Back Mr Kotter.

New York Post December 4, 2008
By Adam Nichols

A retired NYPD cop attended the 20th reunion of his Brooklyn Catholic school - and later told cops he was shocked to find a teacher who had sexually abused him still working at the school.
Philip Repaci, 38, broke his 23-year silence to file charges.

He claims that as a 15-year-old student at Nazareth Regional HS in East Flatbush, he was forced to touch the genitals of science teacher and baseball coach Robert Mistretta.
"It made me sick that he was still there, that he was still in a position where he could harm kids," Repaci said yesterday.

Repaci said the alleged abuse took place when the teacher invited him and a school friend to his Jersey Shore vacation home.

"What happened that day has destroyed every aspect of my life," he said. He filed a report in Ocean County, NJ, where the alleged abuse happened.

Barbara Gil, principal of the school, said "Nazareth will conduct a full review of these allegations and take all necessary and appropriate actions."

Mistretta could not be reached for comment.


Nazereth was the sister school to my high school Xaverian which was on Shore road in Brooklyn. I went to Catholic school from flirts grade through high school so this is not a shock to me. There were a couple of brothers or lay teachers you had your doubts about. Usually not the really effeminate ones since they were harmless. It was the athletic ones who palled around with the students a lot but seemed to spend too much time in the showers or the locker room.

The Catholic Church takes a real bum rap with the pedophile scandal. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of abuses and these guys should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It's just that the public schools have an even worse record which is just covered up. The thing is that a lot of the pedophilia is with grown men and young girls in the public schools. So I guess most people pass it off as no big deal.

The thing about it is when you see something hinky you have to speak out about it. Then and there. Don't wait. Wherever you see it. When adults have access to children who are not their own kids, bad stuff can happen. You have to watch the warning signs.