Mendham Man Indicted in Attack on Monument to Sex Abuse Victims

By Peggy Wright
Daily Record
May 18, 2012

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20120518/NJNEWS/305180009/Mendham-man-38-indicted-attack-monument-sex-abuse-victims?odyssey=nav|head&nclick_check=1

A 38-year-old Mendham man was indicted Thursday on charges he used a sledgehammer to demolish a monument to victims of child sexual abuse outside St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Mendham.

The monument has been rebuilt and was dedicated last month.

A Morris County grand jury issued an indictment that charges Gordon D. Ellis with criminal mischief by causing $2,000 or more in damage to property, unlawful possession of a weapon, desecrating religious or sectarian premises, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Ellis, who is receiving mental health treatment at an inpatient facility, is accused of using a sledgehammer Nov. 18 to destroy the monument, a black basalt millstone. Authorities said they believe that Ellis, an unemployed chef, was intoxicated at the time.

The memorial was dedicated in 2004 on the grounds of St. Joseph’s Church, where James T. Hanley, a former pastor who since has been defrocked, admittedly molested children decades ago. Some of Hanley’s victims proposed the monument, inscribed with a biblical phrase that says it is better to be cast into the sea with a millstone than to harm a child.

Last month, 100 people gathered at the church for the dedication of the replacement monument, created with black basalt from the Columbia River in Oregon.

Ellis originally was held on $25,000 bail in the Morris County but was able to post the reduced bail of $10,000.

Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright @njpressmedia.com