A state senator and several other men are filing lawsuits against a former Bronx Catholic school coach for alleged sexual abuse. 

Rudy Tremaroli was the basketball coach and facilities manager at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Bronx. He started working there in the '60s.

Tremaroli died in 1992, but Connecticut state Sen. Gennaro Bizzarro says the former coach left a lasting impression on him after facing abuse as one of his students at 9-years-old.

"I have been hiding and repressing these memories for decades and it's about time to do something about it,” said Bizzarro.

Bizzarro and other men are filing lawsuits alleging that Tremaroli molested them as boys and forced kids to pose for nude photos.

According to complaints filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by the victims' attorney, Tremaroli created a substantial child pornography collection

Attorney Jeff Herman says the alleged abuse happened throughout Tremaroli’s 30-year tenure, affecting dozens - if not hundreds - of students.

Bizzarro's lawyer also says he has evidence administrators knew of reported abuse but took no action against Tremaroli.

“The principal in the 1980's, Principal Irwin, we know knew about it, because he told us that parents had made reports to him,” said attorney Herman. 

Herman also said that principal James Irwin was arrested for his own possession of child porn in 2000.

The state's new Child Victims Act allowed the alleged victims to take legal action by creating a one-year window for adult survivors to sue no matter how long ago their child abuse took place, said Herman.

"The most important things about these cases is helping victims heal,” he said. “And the only way we can do that is to give them a voice and hold institutions accountable so that kids in the future are protected."

The Archdiocese of New York said in a statement, "The Archdiocese takes all allegations of sexual abuse seriously, and we are continuing our efforts in responding to such allegations. However, we are not publicly commenting on individual lawsuits at this time."