Bishop Hubbard named in fifth lawsuit

A fifth lawsuit has accused Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard of alleged sexual abuse.

The lawsuit - filed this week in State Supreme Court in Albany on behalf of a 55-year-old man currently living in South Carolina - alleges that Bishop Hubbard sexually abused the man when he was 10 on a church bus trip from St. James Parish (now St. Francis of Assisi Parish) to West Point in 1975. The lawsuit also alleges abuse by Bishop Hubbard from 1974-76 when the boy was an altar boy at St. James. 

“We cannot comment on individual cases that are in litigation,” said Mary DeTurris Poust, director of Communications for the Diocese of Albany. “However, the Diocese of Albany remains focused on survivors, intent on making sure the truth comes out in every case that has been filed. As always, we urge anyone who has been abused to contact local law enforcement and our diocesan Assistance Coordinator.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Father Cabell B. Marbury abused the boy between 1974-76. Father Marbury taught at Cardinal McCloskey High School (now Bishop Maginn High School) and ministered at St. James at the time, as well as other parishes. Father Marbury died in 2014 at the age of 81.

Bishop Hubbard, who had taken a leave of absence from his ministry after he was first accused of abuse in August of 2019, has vehemently proclaimed his innocence in the past, saying last year “he never sexually abused anyone.” 

Bishop Hubbard was first accused of misconduct in 2004 but cleared during an investigation by Mary Jo White, the former attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Bishop Hubbard has been named in the five lawsuits since the Child Victims Act (CVA) went into effect on Aug. 14, 2019. The CVA opened a one-year lookback window for victims of alleged abuse to file claims against their abusers in cases that were previously time-barred. The one-year window, which was set to expire in August, was extended by executive order by Governor Andrew Cuomo until January of 2021 because the courts were closed due to the coronavirus and further extended until Aug. 14, 2021.