Sex abuse by ex-Islander alleged

Author: HEIDI SINGER; Advance staff writer

6 boys give similar accounts during hearing for Thomas Cusick

A frightened, weeping boy pleaded with his father for help, as he was asked to recount graphic details of sexual abuse during a tense proceeding in a Pennsylvania courtroom yesterday.

The boy is a 16-year-old mildly retarded youth, and his adoptive father is Thomas Cusick, 47, the former Staten Islander who is pleading not guilty to charges he sexually abused seven boys of the 28 children in his care over a period of three decades.

"Daddy, please help me, please talk to me," the youth cried. Cusick didn't answer. "I need him to look me in the eye. Look up, Daddy, look up. I need a hug, Daddy."

So went the grueling three-hour preliminary hearing in a Middletown, Pa., court, in which six boys gave similar accounts of sexual abuse at the hands of the Port Richmond native.

Cusick was charged in October with 17 counts of sexual abuse, among other crimes, after an adopted teenager described being abused by Cusick, beginning at age 9. Four other boys gave similar accounts. Yesterday, the charges against Cusick grew to 37 counts, as two more children came forward.

During the hearing, a 12-year-old boy began to cry after repeated questioning by Cusick's Langhorne, Pa.-based lawyer, Kevin Zlock. A 17-year old boy said he couldn't go on. An 8-year old child said, "He told us not to tell."

Most of Cusick's adopted and foster children come from poor, inner-city families, and many have disabilities.

The Pennsylvania charges deal with events that allegedly took place in Bucks County. Some of the boys said they performed sex acts with Cusick weekly. Some testified that there was sometimes more than one boy at a time in Cusick's bedroom, and there was also testimony that Cusick encouraged his boys to run around the house naked.

District Justice John Kelly declared there was enough evidence to bring the case to trial, and doubled Cusick's bail to $600,000. Cusick's companion, Donna Robertson, laid down the extra $30,000 in cash to buy the bond.

The grim-faced pair walked hand-in-hand out of the courtroom and refused to answer any questions.

Cusick, whose last Island residence was in a two-story ranch house on posh Tompkins Circle, Tompkinsville, moved abruptly to the affluent suburban community of Bucks County, Pa., last January. In October, prosecutor Michelle Henry said one of the boys told her that the family of nine adopted and four foster children moved after concerns were raised by a neighbor. She wouldn't elaborate.

A police detective in Bucks County, Andrew J. Amoroso, told the Philadelphia Inquirer last month that two children who lived with Cusick on Staten Island said caseworkers came to their house to check on them after receiving an anonymous allegation of sexual abuse sometime after 1996.

There have been no substantiated abuse complaints about Cusick, according to Jennifer Falk of the city's Administration for Children's Services, which contracted with the private Downey Side agency that placed the children in Cusick's home. She would not say whether there were any unsubstantiated abuse complaints.

Cusick was known in the Island theater community for writing and producing the musical "G.I. Joey." He also claimed to have a lucrative songwriting career. But Ricky Martin's record company has never heard of the song Cusick claimed to have written for the Latin pop star, and he is not under contract with Disney to produce "G.I. Joey."

As word of the Pennsylvania charges spread in October, the Richmond County district attorney's office began receiving calls from people with information about possible abuses on Staten Island. Prosecutors are investigating.

"The investigation is still open," said spokeswoman Marlene Markoe-Boyd. "But some victims who are making allegations against Mr. Cusick are providing us information that, unfortunately, is too late to meet the statute of limitations."

Zlock, Cusick's lawyer, did not respond to a request for comment.

If convicted, Cusick faces up to 291 years in prison. A date has not yet been set for his arraignment.

Caption:

Thomas Cusick, 47, a Port Richmond native, and his companion Donna Robertson leave court in Middletown, Pa.