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  Hanley to Face Trial Next Mont
Ex-Mendham Pastor up on Charges Following Incident in Jersey City

By Rob Jennings
Daily Record [New Jersey]
January 23, 2007

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701230334

A Hudson County prosecutor said a trial on threat and weapon charges will be scheduled next month for James T. Hanley, a former Catholic priest who has admitted to sexually abusing children decades ago while the pastor of a Mendham church.

Hanley, who was ousted from the priesthood, appeared in a Jersey City courtroom Monday on charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly brandished a bat during an argument last year with a hotel manager.

Howard Bell, an assistant prosecutor for Hudson County, said afterward a trial will be scheduled Feb. 8 unless the case is resolved in a plea bargain.

Hanley, the former pastor of the Church of St. Joseph in Mendham, has been held in the Hudson County jail on $50,000 bail since being indicted on third-degree charges of making terroristic threats and possession of a weapon, law enforcement officials have said.

The incident occurred on March 10, 2006. Hanley has said he was using the bat as a walking cane.

Hanley was a central figure in a lawsuit involving more than two dozen victims who received a $5 million settlement from the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese in 2005.

Hanley was never prosecuted in connection with the abuse cases because the statute of limitations had expired.

Rob Jennings can be reached at (973) 428-6667 or robjennings@gannett.com

 
 

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