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	Ex-Morris Priest to Be Released from Jail Defrocked Clergyman Who Abused Kids Freed after Time Served for Another Charge Daily Record May 20, 2008 http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/COMMUNITIES27/805200338/1005/NEWS01 JERSEY CITY — James Hanley, a former Roman Catholic priest who was laicized after admitting to abusing children in Morris County churches, was to be released from jail Monday after a court hearing ended a case stemming from a dispute two years ago at a Secaucus hotel. Hanley was sentenced Monday to time already served on charges that he had skipped bail last December when he was supposed to be sentenced on a weapons possession charge, said Howard Bell, a Hudson County assistant prosecutor. Weapon charge Hanley pleaded guilty last year to possession of a weapon after waving a bat at hotel employees during a 2006 dispute at the Extended Stay Hotel. He allegedly became belligerent after a hotel employee refused his sexual advances. Hanley was expected to be sentenced to time served last year but did not show up for a Dec. 14 hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to the bail-jumping charge. Hanley's public defender did not return phone calls. Church assignments Hanley, who worked at churches in Pequannock, Parsippany and Mendham, has admitted to sexually abusing at least a dozen children. He was the main subject of a lawsuit settled for $5 million in 2004 by the Diocese of Paterson. He was never criminally prosecuted because of the statute of limitations.
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