Source: The New York Times

In 2009, Augusto Cortez, a Roman Catholic priest, pleaded guilty to forcible touching of a 12-year-old girl in Brooklyn. He was sentenced to six years of probation but was allowed to remain a member of his religious order.

Last year, a couple in Hampton Bays, on Long Island, who had known Mr. Cortez for years, accused him of molesting one of their daughters, now 8. He was interviewed by the Southampton Town Police and released, but he quickly vanished and became a fugitive, the authorities said.

On Monday, the Hampton Bays family sued Mr. Cortez’s Catholic order as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, where he had worked, alleging they had been “negligent, careless and reckless” in failing to properly train and supervise Mr. Cortez, 52, and to warn the family about his “propensity to sexually molest youth.”

The family’s lawyer, Michael Dowd, said in an interview: “To let this guy run around is crazy. It points to the fact that they’re still not taking this stuff seriously.”

A spokeswoman for the regional division of the order, the Congregation of the Mission, denied the allegations of negligence and said, “We will respond to these issues in court.”

Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said diocesan officials had not yet seen the complaint and could not comment.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in State Supreme Court in Queens, the Hamptons Bay family met Mr. Cortez in about 2004 at the communion of their elder daughter.

Mr. Cortez and the family developed a close friendship. The priest helped the family get a mortgage to buy a house, and he was an occasional visitor there, conducting Mass and blessing meals, Mr. Dowd said.

“This guy insinuated himself into the family and he made it his business, as most abusive predators do, to become very close to the family,” the lawyer said.

In June 2008, Mr. Cortez was indicted by a grand jury on several charges, including second-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching, for allegedly fondling a 12-year-old girl’s breasts when he was alone with her in the computer room of a Catholic parish school in Brooklyn, according to the lawsuit. He pleaded guilty in May 2009 to the forcible touching charge, a misdemeanor, which required him to be registered with the state as a sex offender.

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