Monsignor Alan Placa
Ordained: 1970
Removed: 2002
Reinstated: 2009
Assignment History
- 1970-1974: St. Patrick (Glen Cove, NY)
- 1974-1978: St. Pius X Prep Seminary (Uniondale, NY)
- 1979-1990: Cure of Ars (Merrick, NY) (In residence)
- 1991-1998: SS. Cyril and Methodius (Deer Park, NY) (In residence)
- 1999-2017: St. Aloysius (Great Neck, NY)
- 2001-2002: Catholic Health Services of Long Island (Melville, NY)
- 2008-2010: Unassigned
- 2011-2017: Retired
Summary of Abuse Allegations Against Monsignor Alan Placa
Monsignor Alan J. Placa, an attorney, was the lawyer for the Whitinsville, Massachusetts, House of Affirmation, where priests accused of sexual abuse were sent for psychotherapy. (It has been described as the center of a pedophile sex ring.) Monsignor Placa has remained close with his childhood friend New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and worked for his consulting firm, Giuliani Partners.
Placa was the Dean of Students at St. Pius X Prep Seminary in Uniondale and the vice-chancellor and legal counsel of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He was also the lead in handling child sexual abuse allegations against priests on Long Island. From 1992 to 2002, he worked as part of a three-member "intervention team" to address reports of clergy sexual abuse.
According to media reports, in 2002, he resigned after police investigated allegations of sexually abusing four boys in the 1970s while at St. Patrick and at St. Pius X Prep. He denied all allegations.
In the 2003 Suffolk County Grand Jury report, Monsignor Placa was identified as Priest F. The grand jury heard testimony from three alleged victims, two students and an altar boy, who said that a "Priest F" had molested them in the 1970s.
"In Priest F's case, his conduct was, at first, so equivocal, his victims weren't really sure it was happening to them - that is until it happened again and again and again." The Report continues, "After his first assignment, Priest F was transferred within the Diocese to an assignment outside of parish ministry. It was, however, an assignment that provided a large and continuous source of boys - a school." Furthermore, it is later stated that "Ironically, Priest F would later become instrumental in the development of Diocesan policy in response to allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests."
In December 2009, he was fully restored to the status of a retired priest in good standing after a Vatican review found him to be not guilty of the allegations. His current whereabouts are unknown. In 2021, two lawsuits filed under the Child Victims Act allege that Placa abused boys on campus in the 1980s at the now-closed St. Pius X preparatory seminary in Uniondale. A third lawsuit alleged that Placa sexually abuse a 12-year-old boy at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Glen Cove during his first parish assignment after being ordained.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New York, contact our office today. In October 2020, the Rockville Centre Diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection. The Court will resolve all claims of sexual abuse in this process, but strict filing deadlines will apply, and no late claims will be considered, so contact us today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New York and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.