Missing Names On List Of NJ Priests Accused Of Child Sex Abuse?

By Tom Davis
Patch National
February 15, 2019

https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/missing-names-list-nj-priests-accused-child-sex-abuse

New Jersey's five Catholic archdioceses said they were trying to accountable by releasing the list of nearly 200 names of priests credibly accused of child sex abuse. But now they're ackowledging that the list probably wasn't complete – and we have the names of 10 who were omitted.

As many as 23 names or priests and religious leaders are missing, and victims and critics are calling on the archdioceses to be more forthcoming in their revelations.

Indeed, the Trenton archdiocese promised to release more information on its list of 30 priests who were accused – such as church affiliations. But, thus far, the archdiocese has been silent since the public release of names on Wednesday.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Archdiocese of Newark, acknowleged in an interview that the list will likely expand over time as more allegations are made. "I don't see it and I believe my colleagues here don't see it as an endpoint. Like it's done. We put up our best effort after considerable, considerable investigation," Tobin said in an nj.com report.

Mark Crawford, director of SNAP New Jersey, a survivor support group, said the list did not include priests, monks or others with New Jersey ties who served in religious orders or those that run Catholic schools.

Crawford pointed to a letter from the Delbarton School in the Morristown area released last summer that said 30 people have "courageously stepped forward to say that between 1968 and 1999 they were sexually abused by 13 present or former monks from St. Mary's Abbey and one retired lay faculty member."

The people who stepped forward were former Delbarton students, sons of a former Delbarton School employee, a parishioner at St. James Church in Basking Ridge and former students of St. Elizabeth of Hungary School in Linden.

Those names have not been made public, and Crawford believes there are at least 100 more with New Jersey ties who remain private.

"That's what we need to get it out," Crawford told Patch. "I know this because the victims come to me and say, 'Why wasn't this name on the list?' "

Delbarton has said that it takes these accusations "very seriously, and we profoundly regret and apologize to anyone who has suffered sexual abuse or harassment because of the actions of a St. Mary's Abbey monk or Delbarton School employee." But it did not say why the names were not made public.

Crawford noted that the list also omitted 10 with New Jersey ties who were named in a report provided last month by the USA Northeast Province Jesuits, which represents Roman Catholic priests in New Jersey and elsewhere.

Here is the list of priests with New Jersey ties from that report:

• Cornelius Carr: Carr, who died in 2013, served at St. Peter's Prep education in Jersey City from 1954 to 1959. He was accused abusing minors from 1989 to 1990. A report was issued in 2005.
• Thomas Denny: Denny, who was removed in 2002, served at St. Peter's Prep in from 1986 to 1992 and from 1995 to 1997. He was accused of abusing minors in the 1960s and 1970s and a report was issued in 2002 and 2012.
• Andrew Dittrich: Dittrich, who died in 1990, served at Rutgers University in New Bruswick from 1970 to 1977 and Rider College in Lawrenceville from 1977 to 1989. He was accused of abusing minors from 1966-1976 and reports were made in 2002 and 2018.
• Joseph Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick, who was removed in 2002, served at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City from 1967 to 1969. He was accused of abusing minors in the 1980s and a report was made in 1999.
• Raymond Fullam: Fullam, who died in 1987, served at St. Peter's Church in Jersey City from 1964 to 1965. He was accused of abusing minors in 1954 and 1965. A report was made in 2009.
• James Gould: Gould, who was removed in 2012, served at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City from 1969 to 1971. He was accused of abusing a minor from 1977 to 1978, and admitted to it. A report was made in 2011.
• James Kuntz: Kuntz, who left the Jesuits in 2012, served at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City from 1984 to 1988 and at St. Peter's University from 2004 to 2007. He pleaded guilty to child pornography in 2008.
• Eugene O'Brien: O'Brien, who was removed in 2012, served at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City from 1959 to 1960. He was accused of abusing minors in the 1960s, and he admitted to it. A report was made in 1993.
• Anthony Paone: Paone, who died in 1990, served at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City from 1939 to 1942. He was accused of abusing a minor in 1953 and a report was made in 2002.
• William Scanlon: Scanlon, who was removed in 2011, served at St. Peter's University in Jersey City from 1974 to 1976. He was accused of abusing minors from 1985 to 1994. A report was made in 1994.

John J. Cecero of the USA Northeast Province said the list tracks credible allegations of abuse against a minor or vulnerable adult since 1950.

Cecero apologized for the priests' actions, though he did say the church "did not know any best practices to handle these violations many decades ago and regrettably made mistakes along the way."

What winds up, he said, is "a very shameful history for the church at large" made clear by investigative reporting in Boston in 2002."On behalf of all of the Jesuits of the USA Northeast Province, I apologize for any of our brothers who have committed crimes of abuse and pledge to work to provide safe environments for all to whom we minister and to offer support and possibilities for healing to victims," he said."