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  Archdiocese Gives Prosecutor Info on Alleged Molestation

Jersey Journal [Jersey City NJ for Hudson County NJ]
September 9, 2005

Talks between the Archdiocese of Newark and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office this week have resolved nothing about a Roman Catholic priest with Hudson County ties who has been the target of a molestation accusation.

Archdiocese of Newark spokesman Jim Goodness said the Archdiocese has provided information to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in accordance with a 2003 memorandum directing the Archdiocese to share, with the appropriate law enforcement authorities, any sexual abuse complaints directed against Archdiocese priests.

Joe Capozzi, of Cliffside Park, said that Monsignor Peter Cheplic molested him in the 1980s in Hudson County when Cheplic was assigned to St. Joseph of the Palisades Church in West New York. Cheplic was serving at St. Henry's Church in Bayonne until he voluntarily left his post last week.

Goodness said the Archdiocese review board is investigating Capozzi's complaint.

First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Gaetano "Guy" Gregory had little to add. "We've been in communication with the Archdiocese and we are awaiting the results of their investigation," Gregory said.