Another Clergy Abuse Lawsuit Filed in Florida

A priest who was in charge of four Catholic schools on Florida's gulf coast is being sued for the first time for alleged child sexual abuse.

Brother Robert F. Siccone was the principal at St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples, Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota, St. Charles Borromeo School in Port Charlotte and St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton.

Br. Siccone is identified in a lawsuit filed under the New York Child Victims Act accusing him of sexually abusing a child in the Archdiocese of New York, according to the website of clergy abuse victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson.

Originally from Bloomfield NJ, he also spent time at Catholic institutions in Miami and Boston. He belonged to a religious order known as the Christian Brothers and spent the last ten years of his life in Bradenton.

We in SNAP hope both Florida and New York City Catholic officials will, for the healing of victims, spread the word about this abuse report against Br. Gaffney and turn his personnel file over to law enforcement in case other clerics who may have concealed his crimes might be prosecuted.

We hope every single person who may have information or suspicions about Br. Siccone will find the courage to call independent sources of help – like police, prosecutors, therapists, support groups – not church officials.

CONTACT: Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)


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