NBC News<\/a> report published last May. <\/p>\nHe said he is the oldest of the men who have come forward with allegations against Sagona. The lawsuit alleges Sagona befriended Morrison, who grew up in a single-parent household and lacked a father or male role model. Most of the alleged abuse occurred at Sagona\u2019s home in Great Kills, according to the suit.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like a father to me,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t have a problem saying what I\u2019m going to say next \u2014 I actually loved him; he was the only father figure I had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sagona, 75, is living in Boca Raton, Florida, according to online records. In 2019, he denied the allegations to the Advance\/SILive.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know where that would come from or what that\u2019s about,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d His attorney at the time added, \u201cHe\u2019s been coaching kids for 40 years. Even just the allegations can ruin [a person\u2019s] reputation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sagona could not be reached for comment in regard to this story. <\/p>\n
Morrison said revisiting the trauma has taken an emotional toll. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize the damage until the last six-and-a-half years because I had it buried so far,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the experience has affected his marriage and relationships over the years. However, his wife of 28 years, Kym, has been supportive, especially after meeting other accusers and learning about their shared experiences.<\/p>\n
Despite the emotional strain, Morrison said his primary motivation is protecting children.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I, we\u2019re going to set up a children\u2019s foundation and help the kids,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t need [Sagona\u2019s] money. I don\u2019t need anybody\u2019s money. But I need to get the word out to help other children.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to Sagona, the lawsuit names St. Patrick\u2019s Elementary School, the Great Kills Babe Ruth League and the Archdiocese of New York as defendants, alleging they negligently allowed the abuse to occur.<\/p>\n
The archdiocese did not respond to a request for comment, but issued a previous statement regarding the lawsuits: <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Archdiocese of New York has been anticipating the filing of lawsuits since the Child Victims Act passed earlier this year, even as we continue to invite people to consider our successful program to bring compensation quickly to qualified claimants through the archdiocesan Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we carefully review the claims made in these suits, we ask that people pray for peace and healing for all those who have suffered from the sin and crime of the sexual abuse of minors, wherever it occurred, particularly victim-survivors and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Morrison said he is prepared for his deposition. \u201cWhen a lie is not involved, you don\u2019t need depositions. You don\u2019t need to prep. There are no lies,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my story.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Former Staten Island resident Bruce Morrison came forward nearly seven years ago with allegations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-98480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Bruce](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SAV5KITH3JFDHAUBRJMHEGSHMU.jpeg\")
Bruce Morrison, 66, has been waiting since 2019 for his Child Victims Act case against his former youth coach to move forward.(Courtesy of Bruce Morrison)<\/p>\n