A former priest at the St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Sinclairville is the subject of a Child Victims Act lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Erie County.

The unnamed plaintiff alleges that Fr. Gerald Jasinski sexually assaulted, raped and committed battery against the child on May 17, 1969, in the rectory at St. John’s in Sinclairville.

“As a direct result of (Jasinski’s) conduct described herein, the plaintiff has suffered, and continues to suffer, great physical and emotional pain and suffering of mind and body, shock, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, flashbacks, embarassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation, loss of faith and trust, and will incur expenses for medical psychological treatment, treatment and counseling.

Jasinski’s accuser, identified only as a West Seneca resident, alleges that Jasinski groomed relationships with children by spending time and attention on them, building trust and then abusing the youths. The accuser states Jasinski invited the plaintiff and two other youths to the St. John’s rectory in Sinclairville to fish and spend the night.

Jasinski then allegedly gave the youth alcohol, directed him to a bed in the rectory and sexually abused the boy.

Much like other Child Victims Act lawsuits alleging abuse by former priests, the complaint against Jasinski alleges the Roman Catholic Church had been made aware of the abuse and was otherwise on actual notice that a number of its employees working as priests were sexually abusing, sexually assaulting, sexually molesting or raping children.

Jasinski has been named in Buffalo News reports and by several law firms prosecuting child sex abuse cases as a sexual abuser. The Buffalo News reported last year that Jasinski was charged in June 1986 on felony charges of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse and a charge of unlawfully dealing with a child by the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office while Jasinski was a priest at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Lancaster. Articles in the newspaper’s archives state Jasinski had sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy at a cabin in Sheldon, N.Y., with Jasinski pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of first-degree attempted sexual abuse in August 1986. He was sentenced to five years of probation.