wfn.org | Grady Granted New Appeal

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3036 notes).

Note 3034 by UMNS on June 26, 1996 at 16:18 Eastern (3515 characters).

SEARCH: Grady, sexual abuse, children, appeal, imprisoned 

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CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally                       320(10-71){3034}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             June 26, 1996

Imprisoned clergyman
granted new appeal 

by Kate SantaColoma*

     NEW YORK (UMNS) -- United Methodist clergyman Nathanial T.
Grady, found guilty of sexually abusing children at a Bronx day
care center in 1986, has been granted a new appeal.
     U.S. Judge John G. Koeltl determined that Grady, incarcerated
for the past 10 years, did not receive effective legal advice
during his appeal process, and that the original indictment was
improperly prepared with counts that included more than one
accusation each.
     The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court
now must review the case within 60 days or Grady will be released
from the Greenhaven Correctional Facility in Stormville, N.Y.
     Grady, a clergy member of the New York Annual Conference, has
maintained his innocence since the charges first were brought
against him.  He was convicted by a Bronx Criminal Court jury on
19 counts of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse involving five boys and
a girl ages 3-5, and was sentenced to 15 to 45 years in prison.
     The incidents were reported to have taken place at the
Westchester-Tremont Day Care Center in the Bronx in 1984. Bronx
District Attorney at that time, Mario Merola, was investigating
possible child abuse situations at three city-financed day care
center, among them the Westchester-Tremont Day Care Center. 
However, despite 640 hours of surveillance videotape in the Grady
case, Federal agents did not observe any instances of abuse.
   As there was no physical evidence, Grady's conviction was based
on the testimony of the children that did not mesh with that of
the center's teachers or 26 character witnesses.
     Grady's current attorney, Joel B. Rudin of Manhattan,
maintains that the children's accounts of being abused and locked
in closets were the result of deliberate adult interference or
persistent, suggestive questioning by investigators.
     As a result of Merola's investigations, five people were
convicted of abuse.  Four of those convictions later were
reversed, except for that of Grady.  Now, however, it appears that
this situation is about to change.  The judge says, "At this time,
the likelihood of success on appeal is undeniable."
     According to Rudin, Grady "broke down sobbing" after he heard
the judge's ruling.  Throughout his ordeal, Grady has received
enormous support from members of the New York United Methodist
Annual (regional) Conference who have collected money throughout
the years to help finance his defense fund.
     Within the New York Conference, Grady has served churches in
New Rochelle, the Bronx, Yonkers, Highland Falls, Haverstraw,
Manhattan and Spring Valley.  Before his conviction, he was
chairman of the St. Joseph's Medical Center board in Yonkers and
was considered by many to be a potential mayoral candidate.  He is
also a former Yonkers police chaplain.
                              #  #  #

     * SantaColoma is editor of The Vision, newspaper of the New
York Conference of the United Methodist Church.

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