Ex-Bay Shore teacher Thomas Bernagozzi sentenced to up to 50 years in prison for sexually abusing students

A former Bay Shore teacher convicted of sexually abusing a pair of students and accused of harming scores more during a 30-year career was sentenced by a Suffolk judge to up to 50 years in state prison Wednesday.

Thomas Bernagozzi, 77, of Babylon, was "akin to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," acting state Supreme Court Justice Karen M. Wilutis said before handing down the lengthy prison term, saying the evidence at trial showed the teacher cloaked his decades of abuse under the guise of being a dedicated educator.

"The teacher persona was someone who administrators, parents and children liked very much," Wilutis told the frail, white-haired defendant seated before her. "The sexual predator persona inflicted unthinkable trauma on young boys."

The sentence of 33 1/3 to 50 years reflects the maximum allowed under the law on the top two charges, 25 years for course of sexual conduct against a child and 8 1/3 to 25 years for sodomy. Bernagozzi, who began his teaching career in 1970, will not be eligible for parole until he is nearly 110 years old.

When afforded the opportunity to apologize to his victims, who prosecutors have said total more than 100 former students of Bay Shore elementary schools, Bernagozzi declined. His attorney, Steven Politi, of Central Islip, said his client maintains his innocence and intends to appeal a sentence he referred to as "ridiculous."

"They’re looking for my client to come in and say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry,' " Politi said after an explosive proceeding during which he sparred with prosecutors and the father of one of his client’s victims. "He didn’t do anything."

Politi, who called no witnesses to testify at the trial, said the victims in the criminal case, which began after 45 former Bay Shore students filed civil claims under the Child Victims Act enacted nearly two decades after Bernagozzi’s 2000 retirement, were motivated by the money they received in settlements with the school district. 

Wilutis said Bernagozzi expressed similar opinions about the case when he met with Suffolk County Probation Department investigators following his conviction. His "obvious lack of remorse" was a key factor in receiving the decades-long sentence, the judge said.

"The defendant denied all criminal conduct, accused the prosecutor and witnesses of lying and misleading the jury, and said the trial was a farce," Wilutis said.

Prosecutors alleged at trial that Bernagozzi took advantage of the "blind trust" of parents when he abused students for his own sexual gratification. A popular teacher at Mary G. Clarkson and Gardiner Manor elementary schools, Bernagozzi created extracurricular programs to form "twisted and manipulative" relationships with young boys, prosecutors said.

The sports and theater programs placed the students alone with the teacher, who Assistant District Attorney MacDonald Drane said created a "ruse" to change their clothes and apply talcum powder to their bodies, which he touched with his hands and mouth to "fulfill his sexual desires."

The victims who testified at trial said the abuse occurred at the school or when they were showered and changed by Bernagozzi, who was arrested in December 2023, on outings to a local fitness club, beaches or public pools. 

One victim told the jury he was sexually abused by Bernagozzi starting in 1989 at the age of 4 when he would accompany his older brother on outings with the educator.

"He would kneel down when he would apply the powder and for some reason he would blow it off," said the former student, whose abuse led to the sodomy charge. "He would give it a little kiss down there."

Another student alleged he was abused during his third and fourth grade school years a decade later, in the late 1990s. Newsday is not naming the men because they are victims of sex crimes.

A third victim, who was not called to testify, was depicted posing with his genitalia exposed in a succession of images taken by Bernagozzi, leading to an additional conviction of possession of a sexual performance of a child, for which he received a concurrent sentence.

Several more students spoke at the trial of the highly unusual level of dedication Bernagozzi showed his male students, many of whom had absent fathers and difficult home lives. He took select students to Broadway plays and sporting events, and gave them gifts, even in the years after they left his class. He became a sort of family member, they told the jury.

Records obtained by Newsday show Bay Shore has paid out more than $75 million in legal settlements to more than three dozen former students who alleged the district was negligent in keeping the teacher in the classroom following reports of abuse. A district spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment following the sentencing. Several former school employees, victims in the civil claims, parents and community members attended the sentencing to see the saga that has left a lasting stain on the district reach its dramatic conclusion.

The father of the late-1990s victim said he reported concerns of the teacher’s relationship with his son to the school around the time Bernagozzi retired. His wife told the judge Wednesday that her son was a "bright boy" who lost his spark due to the abuse. She expressed "guilt" for not recognizing what was happening at the time.

"Looking back now, I can see that," the mother said.

Her son, the only victim to address the judge at sentencing, told Bernagozzi, "your day of reckoning is here."

"The image that you deceptively crafted as ‘Mr. B,’ the revered and accomplished educator, is rightfully gone forever," the former student, now in his 30s, said. "Your name will be forever synonymous with unspeakable crimes and uttered with disgust and shame."

Assistant District Attorney Dana Castaldo, the lead prosecutor on the case, said Bernagozzi’s victims, including those who have alleged abuse in civil court but whose claims were not eligible for criminal charges due to statutes of limitations, have suffered from addiction and had their own brushes with the law as they came to terms with the trauma. Some became suicidal, she said.

"He speaks of the awards he earned during his tenure," Castaldo said of remarks Bernagozzi allegedly made to probation officials. "But with the jury verdict, he is finally viewed with the only title he truly earned: the title of convicted child sexual offender, and he has earned every single second of the absolute maximum sentence."

Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney, speaking with reporters after the proceeding, echoed his prosecutor’s remarks.

"Given the strength of the case and his lack of remorse and the gravity of what he did ... this is a very appropriate sentence," Tierney said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.